


Made with blood, sweat and tears

by KeelieThompson1



Series: And every tale condemns me [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adoption, Experiments, Past mention of abuse, sort of domestic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-31
Updated: 2014-08-24
Packaged: 2018-02-11 05:03:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2054670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeelieThompson1/pseuds/KeelieThompson1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When raiding a Hydra base, Tony and Natasha discover two boys, created and raised in the labs. With very little option the boys are taken back to the tower and the start of an odd family is begun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Death of the test-men

They were making a lot of noise.

Peeking out around the door, he stared at the people there and at the dead test men that were on the floor. They always looked like that; disappointed. Though usually the test men only looked like that when they were with him.

The people that stood over the bodies (and they were dead bodies, J3 knew what bodies looked like when they were dead) had to have a lot of power to kill the test men. They'd like that.

A1 looked down and frowned at him for peering around as well. With an angry shove he pushed J3 back and dragged him back down the three steps there.

The cell doors were open. The test men had come back to take them away. That was unusual, even J3 knew that and he was smaller than A1 and the others that had come before. The test men seemed confused by that; J3 was almost certain that they'd have preferred it if he had managed to die.

J3 was glad that the two men were dead on the floor. Sort of. A1 looked a little…sentimental about it. Being sentimental was bad, they said that but it happened anyway. A1 usually said that when he snuck into the cells to look after them.

Unsure, he leaned into A1. No-one would tell him off for putting his fingers in his mouth now and he did it, not sure why it made him feel better. He could feel how quickly A1 was breathing and looked up hopefully, tracking the way A1 was staring at the walls.

He opened his mouth to ask what they were looking for but shut it when they heard a noise from where they had been.

A1 dragged him back into the shadows by the stairs, shoving a hand over J3's mouth. Feeling sentimental again, J3 pushed into him. A1 allowed it, just like he had when H1 had died and when the I's had all got sick because they got to five.

The door above them opened and there was a pause. Then feet echoed as someone walked down the steps slowly.

When she came into view (and it was a she, there had been two female testers and a lady in a suit who snapped at them all) she was dressed in black and had red hair that was very red. J3 had never seen anything as red as that before.

A1 tightened his grip on J3 and lifted his other hand that had a gun in it. J3 almost sucked in a breath in shock as A1 levelled it at the woman.

More steps sounded and J3 could feel the frustration bleeding off of A1.

"Your work?"

J3 couldn't stop the quiet gasp at the sight of the metal man. He had red as well, another shade of it that J3 had never seen before. And a deep shiny yellow. His head had hair though as if he were part machine and part human…

It was confusing.

"They were dead," the woman said. "And we aren't alone."

There was a really long pause and the metal man tilted his human head. The next words were too soft to catch but the metal man made a thoughtful noise.

"It'll bounce back," the metal man said loudly. "The bullet I mean," he added as he turned around to face them.

The human face on the metal body looked shocked when he saw them. "God," he whispered. "They're kids. Small kids."

J3 frowned at the new word beginning with 'k' and twisted his head to look up at A1, hoping he could explain what else they were being told.

The test men hated it when J3 forgot things.

"Don't," A1 snarled at the metal man as he took a step forward.

"Whoa," the metal man said holding up his hand. "Staying back, look, see. I'm staying here, feet planted," he said. "These uh…this is your doing?" he asked, looking at the dead test men.

A1 nodded.

"And the little guy?"

Who? J3 looked up at A1 again who looked hesitant, as if he half understood. "You can't take him," A1 said as he tightened his grip.

No.

Scowling at the metal man, J3 curled up, trying to hide in A1. The metal man was frowning at them and then glanced over at the woman who was searching though the computers that the test man tapped away at. He watched her and then metal slid over his face, hiding his skin and turning him into a fully metal man.

J3 watched as he strode over to the computers and put his hand over one of the interfaces. They seemed to be debating in quiet tones and then the metal man turned and stared at them. J3 counted almost three minutes before he peered forward in curiosity.

A1 pulled him back.

"Little brothers, right? They're a pain in the ass."

"Pain?" A1 asked suspiciously.

"Yeah," the metal man glanced at them. "My friends had little brothers. Always following us around and needing looking after."

A1 looked down at J3 who scowled at the definition. "And that's called a brother?"

Metal man looked at them. Twenty two seconds and then he looked away. "You ever left this place?" he asked.

"Twice," A1 boasted.

"And him?"

A1 shook his head for J3. "He's too new."

"Not good enough," J2 muttered at the same time.

A1 shushed him violently.

"Ah, a boy after my own heart," metal man said. "You a trouble maker, little man?"

J3 looked at A1, hoping…

There was a small nod.

"Maybe," J3 said. "I don't mean to be a problem."

"How old are you?"

"Six years, seven months. Next week I can round up to eight months."

"And you, taller, gloomier and moodier?"

It seemed as if the metal man was talking about A1. Expectantly, J3 looked up at him.

"Ten years and seven months," J3 explained when A1 remained quiet. "And next week he can round up to-"

He stopped when the metal man slammed a hand on the computer. "Fucking assholes," the metal man snarled. "You got names?"

"Designations," A1 answered. "I am batch A, subject 1. He is batch J, subject-"

"J? Ten batches?"

"Thirteen," A1 corrected. "Though they have been terminated," he said.

"And the others?"

"Failed."

Metal man swore again.

His test must have gone really wrong. The test men only ever sounded like that when they were testing J3.


	2. Settling In

There was an entire city underneath them.

Awed, he pressed his hands against the glass, marvelling at the fact his hand was bigger than most of the buildings. Tipping up to his toes he stared down as far as he could and watched the people underneath.

"Jamie," Tony called. "Your face won't go through that glass no matter how hard you try."

That would be amazing. Grinning at the idea he pressed his body against the glass and then leaned back to stare at the imprint on the glass.

Maybe if he jumped at it.

A hand caught his collar as he back up to try it and he tilted his head back to stare up at Tony. "I was checking," J3…Jamie whined.

He still wasn't too sure about the new name. But it made people look normal when they used it and not like they were trying to seal their mouth shut.

"Yeah," Tony muttered. "Never spent so long getting to the penthouse," he muttered, steering Jamie back to where A1…Adam stood ramrod straight.

It was harder calling A1 by his new name.

Tony stared at them both for a moment. "Can you…you should trade off with each other," he said looking awkward. "It's like…huh…you could be me and Capsicle."

Jamie wasn't sure what that meant so he tilted his head hopefully, waiting for more information. Tony rubbed his head and turned to the man with one eye who was stood at the edge of the room.

Someone had said that the man with one eye had come back from the dead. Jamie wasn't too sure if that was possible but if so it would be nice to see the I's again. And the other J's.

Not the G's though. No-one had liked the G's.

The man with one eye didn't say much. He cussed a lot when he did talk and got shushed by the doctor.

Jamie wasn't too sure what cussing meant but it seemed to be used when people said fuck.

"Don't look at me," the one eyed man said sounding angry. "You won by default."

"I 'won'," Tony said lifting his hands and waggling his index and middle finger, "because I have a place of residence and I decided against chasing an amnesiac hundred year old assassin across the world."

"Yeah," the one eyed man agreed.

For some reason it didn't make Tony happy that someone agreed with him. "Okay," he said after a moment. "Though you better think how worrying it is that I'm the best option for this because…" Tony spread his hands. "I was banned from your little group project because I didn't play well with others and now-"

"Stark," the one eyed man said with a long sigh. "How is this the time to bitch about being given responsibility?"

Tony huffed in a way that Jamie sympathised with. "Adam," Tony said facing A1 and opening his mouth a few times, tilting his head and huffing before looking at the one eyed man.

The one eyed man muttered under his breath and stalked away, keeping his back to them all.

A1 flicked his eyes to Tony, not breaking position which seemed to make Tony eye him up in a wary way.

"Do you want to see your room?"

A1 said nothing.

Nervous, J3 stepped back and then hesitated, not sure if he was meant to hold position too. He'd never managed to do it well and that had always made people angry. Maybe that was why Tony looked mad.

(Mad meant angry as well as insane. Strange, but Tony insisted it was true).

It hurt though to stand in position for so long and it made his neck ache. Glancing at A1 he squared his feet and-

"Is that some kind of army code?" Tony asked, turning to one eyed man again. "Have I just given some signal to stand with a pole up their-?"

One eyed man just sighed loudly over Tony's last word. "You need help."

"You think?" Tony demanded. "I am in no way equipped for this. The apocalypse, yes. Sex marathon month, yes. This?" he paced seeming as if he could fit both definitions of mad. "I am going to screw them up."

"More?" one eyed man asked doubtfully.

J3 was already struggling to hold the position. His neck itched and he wanted to twitch his right leg.

"You just said-"

"Romonoff is tracking down Rogers. You have Hill and I imagine Miss Potts will-"

"Don't go there?" Tony snapped. "And why is everyone suddenly so determined that Steve will help? You really want someone even more uptight to-"

"Captain Roger is army trained and arguably more equipped to deal with the oldest."

A1 flinched and then resettled the position.

No-one hit him for it.

Feeling a bit daring, J3 shifted and lowered his chin, keeping an eye on how Tony reacted. When he felt safe enough to, he glanced at A1 again and saw he was shooting J3 panicked looks.

"Don't think we have to," J3 said frankly. "It's taking ages to be dismissed."

"Dismissed?" Tony queried, leaping on the words. "You…" he snarled again and J3 scrambled to get back in position, terrified that maybe he'd reminded Tony that he should correct them.

"You listen to me," Tony snarled. "Neither of you need to stand to attention to be dismissed. If I want you to go to your rooms, I'll tell you. Do I look like I wouldn't tell you if you were annoying me?"

"Are we allowed to choose to go?"

Tony nodded, slumping his shoulders. "Third and fourth doors down the hall," he said as he sat back onto a chair.

Different doors.

Not waiting for A1, J3 scampered down the hall and counted as he went.

The third door opened to a room with a bed that had lots of colours on it. There were two pillows and, when he went on his knees, a space under the bed to hide. Twisting, he stared up at the shelves that had books and thin boxes that J3 was sure usually held CCTV footage.

There were pictures on the wall. Glossy and clear with colours. A screen was on the wall and at the moment played blurring colours that he watched with some fascination.

And there were big windows-

They were doors.

Overjoyed, he scrambled over and reached up for the handle.

He'd only just managed to get it open when Tony came hurrying in. "You are gonna be the death of me, kid," Tony muttered as he hoisted J3 up and onto his hip as he shut the door. "Jarvis."

"Yes sir?" a voice said.

Curious, J3 wriggled, trying to find the owner of the voice but there was no-one around.

"Can we…I dunno. Baby proof the doors?"

"Certainly, sir. Should I add any conditions?"

Tony peered down looking J3 in the eye. Not sure what he was looking for, J3 shoved his fingers in his mouth.

The faintest smile crossed Tony's face. He stroked the hair back from J3's face.

"Sir?"

"No," Tony said, dropping his hand. "No conditions. You'd jump off the balcony just to see what would happen, wouldn't you?" he said, turning his attention back to J3.

"I think I'd go splat," J3 answered honestly. "I don't know anyone who can fly yet."

"I can," Tony said. "I've flown into space before."

That was amazing. And maybe a lie. Tony seemed to think that lies were funny. "Are you telling the truth?" J3 asked, trying not to tell him off.

"I am," Tony said. "I'm Iron man, remember. I fly."

Iron man, not metal man.

"Sir, you might not want to encourage the young master."

"Right," Tony said, shaking himself. "You can't fly until you're like…thirteen. Got it?"

Thirteen? "Nobody thinks I'll survive to that age," J3 said honestly.

He was starting to learn that phrases like that were bad. They made Tony flinch and look ill.

"Is A1 in his room?"

"Adam," Tony corrected. "Remember. Adam. And your name is?"

"Jamie," he said again. "I've only been Jamie for two weeks. It's hard to remember."

Tony hummed at that but said nothing. "What do you think of your room, Jamie?" he asked, over emphasising the last word as if Jamie might have forgotten it in the past thirty seconds.

He wasn't that bad!

"There's a glass door," Jamie said eagerly, twisting to it. "And colours," he added eagerly when Tony closed his eyes in a weary way. "I like colours," he decided, peering at all the colourful surfaces again.

It took him a moment to realise that Tony wasn't talking back to him which was strange because Tony always answered back. Instead, he watched as Tony let him slide down as the man stared through the door into A1…Adam's room.

Adam was standing staring at the room as if frozen to the spot. Ruffling Jamie's hair, Tony gently pushed him towards a coloured box that was almost as long as Jamie was before he walked out and into Adam's room.

Jamie stared at the closed door and then at the box, then back at the glass door that led out to a ledge. A hopeful exploration ended fruitlessly when the voice in the ceiling told him not to attempt the handle again.

Inside the box were little men and boxes with big writing and pictures with an age limit. And there were bricks in a tray that clicked together easily when he tried.

Maybe he could build a tower taller than the one they were in.

 

That night he waited until Tony said goodnight in that awkward way he did and then crept into A1's room.

"I have a space under my bed," Jamie told him. "In case you want to hide there too."

They curled up there together with a blanket.

J3 didn't know why it was that he woke later, only that there were quiet voices not far away and a peek showed two pairs of adult shoes as the men talked quietly while sitting on the floor of J3's room.

"They'll go away soon," A1 whispered. "All of it will go away soon."

J3 felt his eyes fill at that. "Will you?" he whispered back.

"No."

J3 sucked in a breath and nodded.

But he waited until A1 sounded like he was sleeping and then wriggled closer to the edge, needing to check it was Tony and-

One eyed man had gone. Instead there was a white man with a bow next to him.

"Hello," Tony said, shifting so that his face was level with J3's. "Something wrong with the bed?"

It was too dark and the man with the bow was unfamiliar and it made J3 curl back, sink back into the shadows where A1 was waiting.

Even in the dark J3 could recognise a knife.

"I can't do this," Tony said after a while, his feet shifting back to their original position. "They need someone qualified and…parental."

"Yeah…they're dishing out qualifications for how to handle kids grown in a lab to be weapons."

"Jamie's trying to climb out of any window he can see and it's fine because the testmen didn't think he would last and Adam won't react to anything at all. The kid's like a mini robot. And I'm usually good with those but I can't crack him open and fix his parts. Or at least I shouldn't." There was a bang against the wall. "Where the hell do you even begin with this?"

"You know I was raised in the circus?" the bow man said quietly. "If you'd have plunked me down in normal I'd have freaked. Maybe don't try to be normal. Let me spar with the oldest one and give the little one climbing lessons if he's that determined to be part monkey."

"You're staying?"

"Fury's officially dead and I'm unemployed. This isn't totally selfless."

"So you're my live in nanny?"

"Only if you're gonna be their mommy."

There was a long silence. Then, just as J3 was about to fall asleep: "Fury wants them tested," the bow man said.

A1 shifted his grip on his knife and held his breath.

"They were," Tony said tightly.

"He wants to know exactly what it was Hydra-"

Over my fucking dead body," Tony snarled.

"Yeah," bow man said. "That's what I said."

J3 stared at their feet and pressed his lips together at the idea of more testmen. He fell asleep staring at the knife and hoping that A1 would keep him safe.

 

J3 woke to A1 wriggling and moving about. Silently, he let himself be awkwardly manoeuvred, his head bumping on the wooden slats above as A1 edged to the opening, the knife still in his hands as he peeked out.

"Safe," A1 decided after a moment.

Trusting him, J3 stuck his head out and grinned at the sight of the box with the bricks in it. Last night's attempt had shown that he could get the bricks to be almost as tall as Tony. He needed to try-

A1 stood and crept to the door, the knife still in his hands in a ready position. Even J3 had been taught that.

"Can we play with the bricks first?" he asked hopefully.

"They want to test us," A1 sneered. He stepped back from the door to the hall and went instead to the door to the ledge.

"The man in the ceiling won't open it," J3 pointed out, watching A1 closely.

"Lock the door."

J3 hated being locked in a room. It seemed stupid to lock himself in but A1 usually knew better than he did so he wandered to the door and examined the knob.

"Doesn't lock," J3 said feeling a little confused. That was the point of doors, right?

A1 said nothing and kicked at the glass.

The first kick sent shivers of cracks through the glass and J3 watched, envious of A1's strength. A1's second kick sent more splinters through the glass and then-

The door behind J3 flung open and Tony stood there with bow man and one eyed man looking panicked.

A1 was too far away.

They both realised it at the same time and J3 sucked in a breath as bow man reached for him.

They were gonna hurt him anyway.

Smacking bow man in the nose, J3 turned and darted between the men, flying out into the hall and hoping it would cause enough of a distraction. A1 always looked after him and J3 really should start to look after him too, to make it fair.

The hall one way led to the kitchen and the other way led to Tony's room.

He'd already seen the kitchen.

Racing up the hall way he threw himself at the door to Tony's room and let out an annoyed squeak when the door didn't move. There were no handles on it or anything and J3 gaped at it for a moment, not at all sure what to do next.

Back.

He raced back and into the kitchen, not stopping by his door to work out what was happening or become curious as to why no-one was chasing him yet.

The main room with the sofas and huge screen and kitchen looked messier than it had last night. There were small boxes that smelled spicy and cans of something scattered around.

And a new man who stood in what looked like a robe drinking something that was steaming inside of a cup.

And the door was shut.

J3 tried flinging himself at that too but he wasn't A1 and the door held firm, as did the handle. Annoyed, he kicked at it and sighed when the door didn't so much as shudder from the kick.

Miserable, he turned to the man with the steaming mug.

"You must be Jamie," the man said, as if this was something that happened every day.

Right. Jamie. "I keep forgetting that," Jamie muttered as he meandered closer to the man, trying to assess the threat level.

A1…Adam was better at it than he was.

Adam was better at everything than he was.

"I'm Bruce," the man said, putting the mug down on the counter. "Hungry?"

Not really understanding the question, Jamie edged closer still and he could smell something that made his stomach rumble. "Is it mess time?"

Bruce stared at him and then drew in a breath and muttered something about testing and control. But he didn't seem to be saying it about Jamie so that wasn't quite as scary as it could have been.

The man, Bruce, stared at the kitchen for a moment and then shook himself and lifted up a flat brown box. "Ever had pizza?"

"Is that an illness?"

Bruce narrowed his gaze. "Have you ever eaten something called pizza before?" he rephrased.

No. Jamie shook his head.

"It's not that good for you," Bruce sighed as he flipped the lid up. Inside there were triangles with red sauce and yellow things and colours. "But Tony needs lessons on nutrition so we're stuck with what we have."

They stared at each other for a moment.

"Like this," Bruce said as he picked up the 'pizza thing' in his hands and held it balanced. Then, with a despairing look, took a bite. "See. Yum."

Sustenance was never great, though it seemed better since they left the cells. Shrugging, Jamie followed what he'd been shown and-

It was good.

Stunned he pulled the pizza back and studied it, licking the top to work out if it was the sauce that tasted nice. The thick bit underneath felt nice in his mouth, crunchy and-

He scampered down and raced back into his room, holding the pizza slice carefully.

Tony and bow man and one eyed man were still in his room and Adam was there, the glass broken but still waiting.

"-promise you that won't happen," bow man was saying.

"Adam," Jamie yipped as he ran in. "It's mess time and they have pizza and-"

They all stared at him.

"-and it's good," Jamie finished off unsure. "I saved you mine," he added, holding it up to his brother hopefully.

That was one of his favourite new words. Brother. It meant they looked after each other and were family which was another new word.

Adam stared at him and then cast an eye back at the ledge.

Jamie fully intended to wait, to give Adam most of the food because he needed it more but it had tasted so brilliant that he nibbled on a tiny bit again, just to check.

It really had been that good.

Hopefully, he tore some off and handed it to Adam who kept darting glances between them. Adam slowly took the food and nibbled.

He liked it too. Jamie could tell by the way he stared at the pizza as if to work out how to have more.

Tony cussed again and walked out.

"Come on," bow man said, sounding strange. "Plenty more where that came from."

It occurred to Jamie later that he probably shouldn't have hit the bow man because bow man never even seemed to consider hitting him back.


	3. It takes a villiage

The first time they'd bought the table in, he and Adam had hid for five hours. Adam had declared under the bed to be a stupid place to take cover because they couldn't manoeuver well.

Jamie didn't think that the new location was a much better idea because they could be seen. But it did mean that no-one could get to them because no-one else could squeeze through the window and take refuge on the flat roof that covered the gym.

Well…almost no-one.

Iron Man could fly though. Tony hadn't lied about that.

"So," he said as he landed close to them and flicked the face mask back. "Wanna tell me why the pair of you are nesting out here?"

"Has it gone?" Jamie asked, chewing on his thumb.

"Shush," Adam hissed.

"'It'?" Tony asked. "It…let me see," he sat down, which was strange to see in his armour and pondered for a moment. "Drawing a blank here, boys. Wanna help me out?"

"You promised," Adam said in a sulky tone.

"That…?" Tony asked, tilting his head expectantly.

"The table," Jamie burst in.

Tony blinked at them. "The table?" he replied sounding as if he didn't understand. "The thing we bought so that we could all eat together and give you some semblance of normality? That's what sent the pair of you running in terror?"

"Not scared," Adam muttered.

"I am," Jamie said, turning to him in surprise. Why had they hid if they weren't afraid?

Adam gave him an annoyed look.

"I am seriously rubbing off on you two if the idea of a family meal is making you-"

"When are the straps coming?" Jamie asked frankly.

Tony stopped and narrowed his gaze. "You've never eaten at a table," he decided after a moment. "You were experimented on while on a table but…" Tony let out one of his long breaths that made it sounds as if he were cussing in his head. "We're eating at the table," he said, sounding determined about something. "No-one is lying on the table, I promise."

"Pizza?" Jamie checked.

Tony grinned at him. "Would I dare feed you anything else?" he asked.

Jamie shook his head and shuffled a little closer. "I liked the thing that came with it too," he added sincerely, thinking about the hot pizza he'd eaten last night. "The bubbly drink."

"Yeah?" Tony asked, staying still. It was annoying because when he smiled like that it usually meant that Jamie might get a kind touch from it and those made him feel better when he got them.

Jamie nodded.

"We're gonna add ice cream as well," Tony said watching them both. "It's cold and chocolatey-"

"What's that?"

Tony swallowed and then smiled one of those smiles that never quite managed to stay on his face. "Kiddo, I am gonna be your number one favourite person when I introduce you to chocolate. "

"Adam's number one," Jamie informed him, glancing back at his brother. Adam looked a little more relaxed now but he still had that unsure look in his eyes. Tony didn't seem surprised or upset by that.

That was because it was fact and people couldn't get upset by facts.

Instead though he dared to stand up and walk over to Tony who stayed sat down. "Where did you get the suit from?" Jamie asked curiously.

Tony held up some straps around his wrist. "I made it," Tony said.

"Really?" Adam asked looking reluctantly curious. "How?"

"I'm just brilliantly clever."

It was starting to worry Jamie. Chewing on his lip, he stared at the metal covering around Tony's wrists and slumped his shoulders.

"Tired?" Tony asked.

Jamie nodded.

It was his first ever lie.

\--------

Eating at the table was kind of good. Bruce told Tony off for feeding them food that would rot everyone's insides while 'Bowman-call-me-Clint' taught them how to shoot dough balls across the room.

Adam managed after the second time. In the end, Clint pulled Jaime up onto his lap and wrapped their fingers together to demonstrate.

Jamie managed it after the seventh attempt and got Tony right in the eye.

Tony threw one back at Clint without pausing in his conversation with Bruce and it sent Jamie into peels of laughter when Clint juggled them all in his hands and then aimed one back at Tony again.

His laughter seemed to get a good reaction out of everyone. Usually the testmen frowned and locked him away or shocked him with electricity to get rid of 'erroneous impulses'. Here he got squeezed a little by Clint in a nice way while Bruce and Tony paused what they were talking about to look his way. Tony looked stunned but happy.

"Shall we see what else we can throw?" Clint whispered in his ear as if they were hatching a great plot.

Jamie nodded eagerly and Clint swept him up, holding out a hand to Adam who stared at them for a full twenty seconds and then unfolded himself from his seat.

 

The workshop looked like the most interesting place that Jamie had ever seen in his life. There were robots and pieces of robots and tools that looked like they could do all kinds of interesting things.

And Tony was in the middle of it all, hunched over on a stool, his head bouncing as if there was music even though Jamie couldn't hear anything and absently twiddling something as his fingers flew over a keyboard.

Jamie was pretty sure that he wanted to be like Tony when he was older.

Pressing his face against the glass, he stared through at the scene in front of him, giggling when a metal arm nodded up and down and moved to lift Tony's mug (which probably had coffee in it which Bruce had banned Jamie from trying because apparently it would cause Bruce to get a headache if Jamie had any). Clint was upstairs with Adam and they were sparring with each other but Clint wouldn't let Jamie have a go because he was too little.

Jamie was starting to suspect the word 'little' had been created just to annoy him.

It seemed like it was ages that he spent pressed up as close to the glass as possible, hoping to gain some tips to impress Tony.

Suddenly, Tony sat up head tilted as if listening to something. Then he turned and looked directly at Jamie.

Oops.

He froze, not sure what to do. Tony had said not to bother him and not to enter the workshop and Jamie had been sure he hadn't done either. But maybe he had…

With wide, waiting eyes he watched Tony come close to him and open the door-

A blast of music hit him, almost like a wave of too much sensation and Jamie clapped his hands over his ears.

The music stopped when Tony shut the door behind him and the glass suddenly shifted, making it impossible to see through. Even when Jamie rocked back on his heels the glass remained impenetrable.

"I told you to stay away from the workshop."

That hadn't been the instruction. Jamie squinted up at him thoughtfully, trying to work out whether or not to point that out.

"See, that's for grown-ups," Tony added, pointing behind him. "And for my sanity. You have toys-"

And no-one to play with. It was so quiet upstairs; he wasn't used to it being so quiet.

"-go play workshop with those. I'm pretty sure some of those toys are better than my tools. Which reminds me, that long spirally thing that looks like-"

"Can't I stay here?" Jamie asked hopefully.

The answer was quick and absolute in a way that oddly hurt. "No. Do you have any idea how-"

Jamie didn't wait to hear the rest; there was that tone, that lecturing annoyed tone that meant he'd failed something and…and…and he hated what happened after he failed a test.

Scampering up the stairs, he ran full steam, out to the main room and then down, past the training rooms that Clint had opened up and further down, down again to where Bruce lived because he said there needed to be some kind of distance between him and them.

It was only when he reached the locked door at the stairs on Bruce's level and he turned fearfully, expecting to see someone…

There was nothing. No-one. Just an empty hallway that gleamed in the sunlight from the windows.

It was still so quiet.

Slumping against the door, Jamie slid down it, a bubbling feeling in his belly making his eyes prickle. Wrapping his arms around his knees helped a little and he buried his face in his legs, not wanting to see that no-one was there.

"Would you like a story?"

Jamie shot his head up in surprise at the sound of the man in the ceiling's voice. He'd heard it a few times with Tony, but never while on his own. Suspiciously, he gazed around. "Are you a prisoner?" he asked. He knew about those; they'd seen a glimpse of some when the test men had been in charge.

"No," the man sounded amused. "I am Jarvis, I was built by Tony."

Jamie sniffed at the mention of the man and buried his head in his legs again. "What's a story?" he asked after a moment.

"It is an entertaining tale, often giving the listener insight into a situation and allowing them to learn from the story."

Jamie thought about it carefully and then nodded.

"Once upon a time there was a young boy, about your age, who felt very alone. His father was a brilliant man-"

"What's a father?" Jamie asked.

"That is a complicated question," Jarvis replied. "It is someone who helps make you what you are and is tasked with ensuring you reach adulthood."

Maybe the test men had been fathers then.

"But his father didn't have any spare time for the boy," Jarvis continued smoothly. "The boy built a robot and his father showed him some interest so he tried to build more and more. Seeing his brilliance, the father sent his son off to get the best teaching available but all the son knew was that he was being sent away. Feeling lonely, he created someone to talk to and worked as hard as possible to ensure that person became as close to a friend as he could manage."

"I don't think I can build a friend," Jamie sighed.

"The father was always building, trying to make as much money and as many things to keep his son safe, secure and doing what he thought he should to make the world the way he wanted it to be for his son. But the only thing that the son could see was that his father never spent time with him, that he ignored him and that he never took an interest in what the boy was doing. The father was so busy trying to change the world that he never stopped to see what he was missing out on. The boy grew older and became a great man; saving lives, making sacrifices and he started to save the world. But he was like his father and found himself in danger of trying to protect everyone he cared about at the expense of paying attention to them."

That didn't sound useful at all. Jamie scowled and glared up Jarvis, hoping that wherever the man was hiding in the ceiling he could see how not helpful that had been.

"Tony will spend time with you," Jarvis added after a moment with a sigh. "But he is very concerned with your safety at the moment. He wants to ensure that no-one will ever be able to take you away. They all want to ensure that."

Jamie chewed it over in his head, examining the idea. Adam got like that sometimes; all far away and didn't reply when he was trying to focus on the test men or on the people they lived with now.

"Maybe Tony should hear that story," Jamie decided slowly.

"He knows it," Jarvis said. "He simply forgets sometimes."

"Can you play with me?" Jamie asked hopefully. "I won't tell anyone if you come out of the ceiling."

There was a pause and then: "Return to the penthouse and I will teach you how to race cars on the television," Jarvis said.

Jamie flew up the tower as fast as he could.

 

Jarvis didn't come down from the ceiling but he did control the other screen to race against Jamie after explaining all the controls and how it worked. Adam and Clint appeared after a while and Jamie thought it might just be the best thing in his life that he got to explain how the racing worked to Adam.

And that for the first time ever he bet Adam at something.

The joy lasted ten seconds. Adam went white and stared at the television in horror and then at Clint with huge eyes.

Clint had been tapping away at the tablet on his lap and glanced up at them, then at the screen and then at them again.

Then he held out his hand for Adam's controls.

Jamie beat him too.

"Do I look like I'm gonna start crying about it?" Clint asked with a shrug and then went back to his tablet.

Adam swallowed and took the controls back nervously.

Jamie let him win next time.

 

Tony didn't turn up for dinner and neither did Bruce. It seemed quiet suddenly with just the three of them eating, even if Clint made spaghetti which was long strips of something called pasta that Clint allowed Jamie to suck up a strand at a time. If he sucked really hard then it made all the sauce ping everywhere which made Jamie giggle.

And milkshake. Chocolate milkshake.

Jamie wasn't too sure when they would go back to normal sustenance but until that point he was going to enjoy every single bite.

He had a bath during which Clint sat on the mat opposite him and muttered something about an idea seeming good at the time as he scrubbed the red sauce off of Jamie's face and hair and fingers. Adam sat next to him in the bath, not looking sure about any of it and he was clearly suspicious of the bubble bath Clint had added.

The smell tickled Jamie's nose.

\---------------------

Adam slept in Jamie's bed now and the bed was all cosy and warm, not like the benches they'd slept on before the tower. Adam seemed tired and fell asleep really quickly but Jamie…

Jamie snuck out whenever he thought a good amount of time had gone by in the hopes of seeing Tony.

It was almost light again when he finally saw Tony standing in the kitchen with Clint, talking about Shields and locations and something called Hydra.

Jamie hung at the doorway, not sure whether to interrupt.

"Sir," Jarvis cut in. "You have a visitor."

Did they? Jamie peered at the door hopefully.

"Hey," Tony said, catching Jamie's attention. "You, bed. That thing I got you so you could sleep in? Go use it."

"You shouldn't keep Jarvis in the ceiling," Jamie said, figuring he was in trouble anyway.

Tony gaped at him and turned to Clint.

"Jarvis is a computer," Clint said when Tony failed to speak. "He isn't a man we're keeping up there."

Oh. "You should find the boy who built robots. He could make Jarvis a body and then Jarvis could play with me properly."

Tony slowly folded his arms. "Jarvis?"

"Yes sir?"

"The boy who built robots?"

"Yes sir."

Jarvis wasn't being helpful. "He told me a story because it's a way of learning."

Clint sniggered. "And what did you learn?"

"That…" Jamie failed suddenly, not too sure what he had been meant to learn. Worried, he looked up at the ceiling hopefully. "Um…"

He sucked in a breath suddenly realising that he'd sought them out, ignored sleeping times, ignored designated areas and then demonstrated that he didn't know what he'd learned.

His chin started to tremble and he pressed his lips together. The table where he'd eaten was still covered with red but it didn't look like sauce anymore.

"Hey," Tony sounded close and yet far away. "Jamie…"

A hand reached out.

Jamie squeezed his eyes shut and pushed himself as far into the wall as he could manage. And he had to keep his mouth shut because begging was weak and sentimental and had to be removed from him.

Then hands were on him, lifting him.

He screamed and fought. He didn't care what he caught but he lashed out with arms and legs, finding bone and muscles and skin to tear with his finger nails until there was air and then a hard knock at his back as he hit the floor.

They were going to punish him. They'd do it again and then-

A1.

A1 was there.

They punished him too last time. For trying to help.

J3 shoved him away, dimly aware that he was mumbling 'not again' over and over and over.

This time when arms wrapped around him they pinned his arms to his side and one hand cupped his forehead, holding it steady. Forced into stillness, J3 braced himself.

Ages later he was still bracing himself. But someone was rocking him slightly and was shushing him softly.

Jamie opened his eyes.

Tony sat opposite, cross legged and watching him while Adam was standing, the knife he'd stolen from the kitchen in his hands and his eyes fixated on whoever it was that was holding Jamie. Clint was stood next to him, leaning against the wall looking angry.

Not wanting to see them, Jamie turned into the arms holding him, seeking refuge in the calm. The man adjusted…he smelt of tea…Bruce?

Curious he peeked up and caught enough of a glimpse that he was certain it was Bruce holding him.

"Feeling better?" Bruce rumbled.

Jamie shook his head quickly, not wanting to give up the sensation of being held like this. It made it seem as if he might never get tested again.

Or punished.

The thought made him suck in his breath and he quickly retraced the memory of the story, trying to find something, anything…

"I don't know what I learned," Jamie whispered, terrified.

"What?" Bruce asked even as Adam sucked in a breath and tightened his grip on the knife.

The fear was overwhelming and he started to shake, trying not to because it was weak and-

There was a loud crack and thudding noise as Clint kicked a chair. "They are dead," he snarled at Tony. "Anyone who thinks that," he said pointing at Jamie, "Is an acceptable thing to do to a kid-"

Dead?

Adam froze and stared at him.

"Not you," Bruce said quickly. "Not you two-"

Tony cussed and stood, reaching for Adam's knife and hauling him into his arms. Jamie watched as Adam blinked in shock and stared at his knife, covered by Tony's hand as if expecting it to suddenly do something. Jamie closed his eyes as he felt Bruce rock him again, whispering things to his hair.

"Look at me," Bruce said softly, lifting Jamie's chin. "I promise you, no-one will ever hurt you for not knowing the answer to a question."

But…Jamie felt his eyes fill. "But…" he bit his lip, not sure.

Bruce kept watching him, his thumb stroking Jamie's chin. "But what?"

"I…" Jamie swallowed. "I fail everything."

Bruce's eyes drew together in confusion and looked up. Following his gaze, Jamie glanced at Tony-

Tony had blood on his face, scratch marks on his cheek and neck and his arms-

Jamie looked down and his nails were caked with drying blood.

"Tests say the kid's normal," Tony said softly. "Can imagine how well that went down."

Bruce sucked in a breath and went very, very quiet.

"You okay big guy?" Clint asked after a moment.

"Give me a sec," Bruce said standing. Jamie whimpered but Bruce seemed to ignore him as he passed Jamie over and then strode out of the room, moving far quicker than Jamie had ever seen him go before.

Clint had a scratch on his face too.

"Did I do that?" Jamie asked, staring at the mark.

"Please," Clint muttered. "Had worse from kittens," he said as he shifted Jamie onto his hip. "You wanna hand over that knife yet?" he asked Adam.

Adam shook his head but seemed to be leaning in towards Tony. Clint stared at him for a moment and then went to a drawer, rustling in it until he found a normal knife like the one Bruce used to butter bread.

"Seriously? That's how you're helping this situation?"

"You want to have in depth therapy sessions?" Clint snapped making Jamie curl a little. He walked them over to the sofa and swung Jamie around so that he was on Clint's lap.

Clint tossed the knife up in the air and caught it again at the handle. "You wanna go, little man?"

Jamie shook his head but looked at Clint hopefully, wanting to see it again. Clint hesitated and then spun the knife over his hand.

Again.

Clint did it a few times for him until Jamie felt his eyes start to drop, heavy and he smelt the bubble bath that Clint had used on them earlier. His mouth split with a yawn and he snuggled in closer.

Adam had taken the knife the next time Jamie opened his eyes and Clint was standing with him but Jamie was still being held so-

It was Tony.

"See, that's what happens when you stay awake all night," Tony told him. "And then you miss out on Bruce making pancakes."

Pancakes?

Curiously, Jamie traced the scratch mark on Tony's face. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Yeah well…I ignored you yesterday so I figure we're even."

Oh.

Jamie stretch out, flopping back against Tony's arm and reaching his feet as far as possible. Tony frowned down at him and then danced his fingers across Jamie's belly, over his top.

The sensation made Jamie shriek, wriggling and giggling away from his fingers. Tony froze, his eyes fixed on something else.

"Again," Jamie ordered, sitting up and clambering over Tony.

Tony pulled his gaze back to Jamie. "Again huh?"

"Makes me giggle," Jamie said frankly.

There was a warm look in Tony's eyes as he hummed, as if deciding what to do. Then a grin split his face and he danced his fingers along Jamie's sides this time.

Jamie giggled, wriggling at the sensation. Suddenly Tony pulled him forward, wrapping Jamie into a tight hold and burying Jamie's head in the crook of his neck.

"You are not a failure," Tony hissed into Jamie's ear fiercely. "Do you understand me? You and that word do not belong in the same sentence."

Jamie turned into Tony's neck. "But…I'm not special," he whispered. "Not like Adam."

"You are," Tony said softly and ran a hand through Jamie's hair. "That's the one thing I want you to learn, kid. You really are. Fearless little monkey," he added with a grin as he pulled back.

Hm. Jamie sat back a bit and stared at the kitchen behind Tony and then fixed him with a determined look.

"Yes?" Tony asked.

"What are pancakes?"

"Love your priorities, kid," Tony said, swinging them both up. "Come on, let's go bug Bruce."


	4. Miss Potts

"You're doing what?" Bruce asked.

"Getting ice cream," Tony replied. Jamie hung his head back from where Tony was holding him. Keeping his arms secure against Tony's neck, he peered up at Bruce's chin.

"I like ice-cream," Jamie chirped hopefully.

Bruce kept his arms folded which meant he was in danger of scolding them. Bruce had started to do it when it came to bed times and brushing teeth and having baths and not playing with knives.

"Adam likes ice-cream," Jamie added.

It was unfair, he thought mutinously. In the months that they'd been living at the tower they all seemed to want to please Adam more than Jamie. Still, Jamie was slowly learning how to use that to get what he wanted.

"You're getting too smart," Bruce muttered but his arms loosened a little.

"Tony said that's not possible."

"Tony would say that," Bruce sighed.

"Yeah," Jamie said, lifting his head up to look at Tony with a 'duh' expression.

"I swear you've indoctrinated that child," Bruce sighed. "Go."

Jamie let out a shriek and wriggled to the floor to find Adam.

They were going outside.

 

Outside was hot and there were loads of people and Tony had an unmovable grip on his hand that meant Jamie couldn't go exploring.

"But what's down there?" he asked for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Not ice-cream," Tony kept saying. He kept a hand on Adam's shoulder, steering him slightly. "Your brother's being a brat," he muttered to Adam.

"It's okay," Adam said slowly. "I have protection."

Tony stopped them and then pulled Jamie back into him when Jamie hopefully started to follow a tall man in a business suit who was swinging a case.

"Protection?" Tony asked. "Please tell me it's not the kind of protection that comes out of the knife block."

Adam winced. "I can't tell you that," he said frankly. He paused and looked around and then looked back at Tony. "I suppose I could lie?" he offered.

"Was that a joke?" Tony asked, sounding delighted. "Did you just…" Tony pulled Adam in close. "That knife stays hidden, understood?"

Adam nodded. "Unless someone tries to kill us," he said.

That seemed reasonable. "Can I see it?" Jamie asked, winding in front of Tony.

"I swear you have turned part cat," Tony complained, pulling Jamie back. "And no you can't," he added in way that Jamie thought was meant to be stern.

"What if I need it?"

"No-one needs the knife," Tony snapped at the pair of them. "There will be no knife tricks, no stabbings and for the love of God, Jamie, will you just walk in a straight line?"

Oh. Frustrated, Jamie stared at the sidewalk and scowled at it, letting Tony led him.

Until they got to the shop.

The entire counter was filled with ice cream and nothing on earth could have stopped Jamie from launching at the glass coverings, nose pressed to it as he examined each of the deep trays.

Tony pulled him back and crouched down next to him. "Which one looks good?" he asked.

One? He was meant to pick one? "Seven?" he tried bargaining.

"Two," Tony said looking up at Adam. "You can see the labels?"

Adam nodded.

"Ask if you don't know what something is," Tony encouraged. "You," he scolded at Jamie. "Point out the ones you like and I'll tell you what they are and then we can have the epic battle over how many you're allowed."

The man behind the counter was scowling at him but the girl offered a tiny spoon so that Jamie could try some.

It was the best day ever.

 

"We knew this was going to happen," Clint was saying. "The world was going to find out about them eventually. Definitely if you insist on being the one to take them out for ice-cream," he added with an unhappy tone.

Jamie wandered over to Bruce. All three of them were staring at the see through screen that Tony used for work sometimes. On it was a picture of Jamie, Tony and Adam. Tony had his arm around Adam while Jamie was wandering around him. Adam's blond hair was glinting in the sun while Jamie's darker, wilder hair was being picked up by the wind.

"Can I have pancakes," he asked, leaning over the couch to put his head on Bruce's shoulder. "I want five," he decided.

"Not today," Bruce said absently.

Jamie let loose a disappointed whine. "But I want pancakes," Jamie pleaded hopefully.

Bruce was always the hardest to change his mind. He just reached up and ruffled Jamie's hair. "What are the theories so far?"

"You know. The usual. I've either picked the up from some pet shop or I…" Tony hesitated. "you know. Made them."

Ooh, Jamie knew that one. "Like a father?"

All three men turned to stare at him.

"Jarvis told me about them ages ago. Father's make you and then they make sure you live." Jamie considered the idea, it had been ages since Jarvis had told him that. "I think the test men were mine."

"No," Tony said. "No. Just…no. Wrong. Fathers, they…uh…" he floundered. "They are the opposite of…of the testmen."

Oh.

No. Still confusing.

"No-one's come up with kids bred to be super soldier then?" Bruce asked.

"I bet they have," Clint muttered.

It didn't seem like he was going to get breakfast. Bored, Jamie scrambled onto the arm of the sofa and balanced on it.

"Did you and Fury ever decide what to tell the public?

"No comment?" Tony asked. "Though apparently Fury didn't think I could do that which may I point out is uh…extremely wrong. I have often said no comment-"

"Yeah, that doesn't seem like a good-"

"Sir," Jarvis cut across them all. "Miss Potts is on the line."

Tony flinched.

Jamie froze where he was balanced, watching Tony curiously. The man looked…nervous. And Tony never seemed nervous because he knew everything.

That wasn't good.

Jamie leapt off the sofa and behind him heard Bruce let out a strangled breath as he ran back into his room where Adam was still doing morning routines.

Bruce and Tony had tried to stop him but Clint had looked baffled as to what their problem was and muttered something about not raising fat, lazy kids.

"Tony's scared," Jamie announced.

Adam paused mid sit up. He stared at Jamie and then snorted.

"He is," Jamie insisted, plonking himself down opposite Adam. "There's someone called Miss Potts and Tony looked afraid."

It was easy to tell when Adam was trying to work something out. Slowly, he stood and crept into the hall. Jamie let him go and when he was out of the room did a sit up, just to check he still could.

Yep. And it was still really, really boring to do!

Rolling over to his belly, Jamie reached out for the toy men he had been playing with earlier. The red one looked like Tony when he was being Iron Man and Jamie whizzed the figure in the air.

If he were Iron Man he wouldn't stop flying. He'd do somersaults and flips and he'd only stop for Pizza. Or if Clint was cooking.

When Adam sat back down he looked nervous. "Bruce and Clint aren't nervous," he said sounding as if he were grabbing at something.

Jamie shrugged.

"The test men were afraid of the woman. Do you remember the one who has clicky shoes?" Adam said as he wrapped his arms around his legs. "She came and looked at the data and then…" he frowned and bit his lip.

The figure dropped to the carpet as Jamie shuddered at the memory. "Maybe we should break the table," he said thoughtfully.

"What about Tony?" Adam asked seriously.

That was a good point. Tony had looked after them so it seemed only fair they try to help him. Only…if Tony was afraid then Miss Potts had to be very scary.

"We could kill her?" Jamie offered.

Adam looked sulky. "Not allowed," he muttered. "They all made me swear not to kill someone again."

"I haven't promised," Jamie said feeling a little annoyed that they hadn't bothered to even talk to him about it.

That earned a thoughtful hum. "I only have the knife. You're not very good with it."

"Am too," Jamie argued. "I can kill people just like you-" he trailed off at the look in Adam's eyes as he suddenly scrambled to his feet.

What?

Jamie turned and stared straight into Tony's shocked eyes.

"Okay, you really weren't kidding," Tony muttered, staring at them. "Are you seriously planning to kill my ex?"

'X'? Or eggs? Either way it sounded strange but then Jamie was starting to learn that Tony was a little strange. "You didn't make me promise not to," Jamie said boldly even as Adam sighed in annoyance.

Tony raised his hands as if to strangle something and then drew in a long, deep breath. His hands lifted and tapped his head over and over again as if he were trying to knock something over.

"You," he said, pointing at Jamie. "You are utterly banned from killing. Understand?"

"That's not fair," Jamie whinged. "What if Miss Potts comes and she wears clicky shoes and bosses people around?"

Tony looked as though he couldn't decide whether to laugh or scream.

"What if she makes you scared?" Adam challenged.

Tony opened his mouth and then faltered, baffled. "What?"

"Sir, I believe the conversation began out of concern for your safety. The boys believe you are afraid of her."

"I am not afraid of her," Tony argued with Jarvis. "At no point am I…her filing is terrifying. And that diary thing she carries. The thing that she uses to point out the things I didn't do? That I don't like. So…not scared just…and her tone. That tone of voice she has after-"

"Sir, I believe you are not helping the situation."

"Right," Tony said, shaking himself. "So I am not afraid of Pepper."

Huh? Screwing up his nose, Jamie tilted his head.

"Miss Potts," Tony explained with a sigh. "So you don't need to discuss killing her."

"I think we should," Adam said folding his arms and raising his chin. "You don't want to see her."

Tony looked Adam up and down and then started to smile. The grin spread over his face and Jamie glanced between them, feeling as if he were missing something.

"Are you trying to protect me?" Tony asked.

Adam shrugged, hunching a little.

"Kid," Tony said striding forward and cupping Adam's face. He stared down at Adam for a long moment and then pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"I was gonna do it," Jamie pointed out glumly.

Tony let out a long sigh and bumped his forehead against Adam's. Muttering something to Adam that made his brother grin for a flash of a moment before turning to Jamie.

"You were, were you?" Tony asked, keeping his hand on Adam's shoulder.

Jamie stood up, going on to tip toes in the hopes Tony might hold onto his shoulder too. But Tony stared at him, his expression falling slightly before he reached out and pulled Jamie close so that he was squeezed between Tony and Adam.

"Listen," Tony said suddenly, crouching down in front of them, holding an arm each. "You…" he took a long breath. He sighed glancing between them and ended up just pulling them close again.

Behind Tony's head, Jamie turned his head to Adam and grinned before snuggling close and fisting Tony's shirt. Adam looked tentatively happy and flexed his fingers against the material.

"You need to listen to me," Tony said, sounding strange as he pulled back. Jamie tried resisting but Tony reached and detached his hand. "You are gonna hear a lot of stuff said about you two over the next few days. And…we have to keep you safe. You understand? "

"I can keep us sa-"

"You're not going to," Tony argued with Adam. "You pay no attention to the news. Got it?"

Jamie looked at Adam who reluctantly nodded and then Jamie had all of Tony's attention. They stared at each other for long minutes.

"What's the news?" Jamie asked, feeling that was probably important to the promise he was being asked to make.

Tony snorted and pulled him close. "Never mind," he said with a sigh, standing up with Jamie over his shoulder. Delighted, Jamie screamed and waved at the floor, Tony keeping his legs secure.

"Tony," Jamie shrieked, wriggling to see Adam's expression and see if it was okay. The glimpse he got was that Tony had wrapped his spare hand around Adam's shoulder and was guiding them all back to the main area.

"Our assassins have been dealt with," Tony announced as he entered. "They need feeding."

"Pancakes," Jamie pleaded with the floor, wriggling to try and catch someone's eye.

"Hush," Tony said, swinging him in the most brilliant way that made the wind rush through his hair. "What do you want kiddo?" he asked Adam. "You promised first."

What? Scowling at that, Jamie glared at the floor and then tried to find Adam's gaze.

"Chocolate?"

That was even better. "Yes," Jamie decided, figuring it was worth adding his thoughts.

He could hear Bruce groan.

 

Miss Potts was coming.

Jamie stayed by the window watching out for her. He still wasn't convinced that she wasn't going to be a threat. The woman who had visited them in the labs had been even scarier than the others; she'd peered at the failed data and then had the test men run more tests, harder and longer than usual.

"Hey Jim-Jam," Clint said, crouching down next to him. "Are you keeping watch?"

Jamie nodded. "But I can't see the entrance," he whined as he pressed his face to the glass trying to crane his neck. "Can we go outside?"

"Not a great idea at the moment," Clint said as he ran a soothing hand down Jamie's back. "We've got reporters watching out for any glimpse of you two."

Them? Jamie squinted at the idea. "Why?"

"Because," Clint said, drawing out the word. "You're just that awesome."

Jamie grinned, not sure whether it was a fib or not and rocked back and forth as he tried to work it out.

"And," Clint said, turning them to the sofa. "I need you to do me a favour. See that seat there? I need you to guard it until I get back."

He could do that! He could totally do that. But… "What happens if I fail?" Jamie asked figuring it was sensible to check.

There was a frown and a hum in response. "Noth…one less spoonful of ice cream."

Mulling it over, Jamie peered at the chair and then back at Clint. Slowly he nodded, feeling a little nervous at the idea and followed Clint over. Before he knew it he was being lifted over the back of the couch and placed on the seat, the remote placed in his hands. Clint twisted it and aimed it at the screen and then the pictures started to play.

The screen was the best thing in the world. It showed pictures of people's lives and sometimes they were colourful fish or animals or normal people. This time there was a lion and a zebra and a hippo and a giraffe. Content and curious, Jamie sat down, tapping the remote against his chin absently.

He got so lost in the story that he barely paid any attention to the woman who came in. A glance at her showed she wasn't Miss Potts because she was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and had a smile on her face that made him want to smile back.

"Would you like a drink?" she asked gently.

Jamie nodded, trying to keep his eyes on the screen, especially fascinated by the music and the dancing. Briefly he wondered where Adam was but part of him didn't want to miss a single second of the film.

The drink was orange coloured and tasted tart and sweet and refreshing and Jamie immediately gulped it down happily as the woman sat herself down next to him.

"Who's your favourite?" she asked gently after a few minutes of quietly watching with him.

"The zebra," Jamie said shyly. "I think the lion might eat them all."

The woman smiled at that. "The zebra's a good choice," she said gently, turning her head back to the screen. This time Jamie kept looking at her, trying to work out what colour her hair was. It looked soft and long and he hesitantly reached out to stroke a strand.

It was silky soft and she smiled at him. Her eyes wandered around the room as she took a deep breath. "So Tony's looking after you?"

"And Clint and Bruce and Adam," Jamie replied a little baffled. If he didn't know any better he'd say she was nervous but that made no sense; why would an adult be nervous with just him?

"And you get fed? Three meals a day?"

Yeah! "And the food's really yummy. Have you tried pizza before?"

The woman stared at him and slowly nodded. "Yes, yes I have," she said with too many nods. "And um…you feel safe?"

A little suspicious now, Jamie nodded and decided not to mention just how well he was being treated in case someone saw the mistake and ordered for that to be changed. He watched as the woman brought out her StarkPad which was something Tony had tried to show him how to use yesterday and had then allowed Clint to show him because apparently Tony couldn't speak English when explaining things.

It had sounded almost like English to Jamie but Clint had made it clearer so Jamie hadn't argued.

"You're here," Tony said as he walked in, stopping where he had spotted them. "You…I didn't hear you come in."

"You probably had the music on and there are a lot of doors, Tony. Far away doors."

"Yes but," Tony pointed at something and then frowned. "You gave him juice?"

Jamie peered between them and then down at the orange liquid in his glass. "Yes," the woman said, looking up from what she was doing. "He was thirsty."

Jamie took a long deep sip in case it was about to be taken away.

"But juice? We have juice?" Tony looked suspicious. "That might be Bruce's drink. He could hulk out so you should…you know. Give me the information that you need to and then-"

He broke off as the woman stared at him and sighed, dumping himself in the chair by Jamie. "This is going to be boring, isn't it?"

"I'm helping you keep custody-"

"I have an army of lawyers and I'm pretty sure I have what amounts to an army anyway. I mean half of them are scattered across the world and one isn't on the planet which reminds me, did you ask if there was a way to contact Thor? I mean if a God says I should keep the kids then I think that might go some way to helping the cause."

"What's a thor?" Jamie asked, half sure he had followed that.

"A friend of Tony's," the woman explained and then huffed when Tony hummed at that. "He is, don't confuse him with your unique definitions of personal relationships."

"I'm sorry, are we going there? I thought we agreed not to go there. Especially in front of the children."

"That's a plural," Jamie chirped up happy to help. It didn't quite work the way he'd expected; Tony scowled at him and the woman almost smiled again.

"I can't get hold of Jane Foster and I've never met Thor so I'm not sure how you think I can help you there," the woman said. "But I really would suggest doing a talk show or two, just to-"

Tony actually groaned and thudded his head against the back of the chair.

"People want answers, Tony and the more we delay telling them the more sensational this is getting. One message says that they think you've made clones."

"Adam's blond," Tony muttered. "And both have completely different coloured eyes to me. How is that a clone? Just post a link to wikipedia's definition of cloning…wait…" he sat up. "Edit wikipedia's page and make sure it's correct and then send them that way."

The woman drew in a long sigh. "It's in their best interest."

"You know I'm getting sick of hearing that," Tony said, standing suddenly. "Why do people think I need to be told what's in their best interest, huh? I took them out of the lab all on my own-"

"Natasha helped," the woman argued.

"And left," Tony replied. "I've been here with them, I've sat there and listened to nightmares and watched them stare with awe at food that they should take for granted. Debated whether or not to have a table in the room because they only know of one use for that and believe me, Pepper, they still ask when the straps are coming. I don't need to be told what is in their best interest-"

"You do," the woman…Pepper?...argued. "In this Tony, in public relations. You've always created a story, you have no idea how to bury it."

"Name one time when-"

"I can," Pepper said standing too. "When you announced you were Iron Man-"

"I didn't want to lie-"

"When you went to the senate to defend your property-"

"It was my property-"

"When you invited a terrorist to take aim at your house and gave him the address."

"That worked out-""

"When you announced you were retiring and then, without telling me, suddenly swooped back in as Iron Man."

Tony flinched. "There were…" he sounded like he was stalling for time. "…circumstances. Big complicated ones and people needed help-"

"A phone call."

"I gave you one."

"After!"

Jamie darted his eyes back and forth and then slipped over the sofa's back and fled the room. He made his way down the corner stairs, round and round until he came to the door for the gym.

"Miss Potts is here," Jamie said as he watched Adam and Clint go through flexibility exercises. Adam peered up where he was on the floor, his feet touching together with his kneed splayed and hands in the middle keeping himself off the floor.

"And?" he asked, requesting more detail. Clint winced but didn't look like he would go up and help. Instead, he seemed to root himself to the ground.

"They're arguing," Jamie said. "I think Tony's losing."

Adam peered at Clint and then lowered himself to the ground. "Clint says that they used to love each other and now they don't see each other and it makes it not our business."

The word love was still a sketchy concept but that made some sense even if the stories had always said that love lasted forever. That was a bit worrying. Up until that point Jamie had it on good authority that when someone said they loved someone else it meant that no more bad things happened. It had sounded like a good thing to hope for one day.

"They're arguing in front of the screen," Jamie said in the end out of loss for how to handle it.

"Tell them to argue somewhere else then," Clint suggested. "Or you can sit with us."

No. Training still looked boring. If they'd been sparring then maybe. "Can I have a knife?"

"No."

Then there didn't seem much point. Defeated, Jamie turned away and scampered back upstairs and then blinked at the sight of Pepper and Tony attaching themselves together at the mouth.

People in movies did that. It seemed to come before being married and a happily ever after so…Jamie shifted from foot to foot, a little confused by it all. Surely they were doing things the wrong way round or maybe Tony was going to leave now and go away to be happy in a castle somewhere.

Jamie knew it was really bad that he hoped Tony would pull away and say 'yuck' and stay with him forever. But until they finished he was a bit stuck and...well...at least they were being quiet.

Ish. If you ignored the wet sounds.

He sat down and turned his back to them, keeping his eyes on the screen and watching as the animals ran through the forest and the penguins helped, trying not to giggle when one dressed up with whipped cream.

"That doesn't change anything," Pepper said suddenly. "I can't…you were meant to be honest with me and trust me."

"I do. I just…I saw the news and then-"

"One phone call Tony."

"The last time I called when I was in a battle you didn't pick up."

"And another thing, you said all the suits were gone. I know you, Tony, not even you can build a suit in-"

Jamie sighed. Loudly and turned to the adults who had stopped and were looking down at him in surprise.

"When did you come back?" Tony asked, looking around.

"When you were kissing," Jamie said with some disgust.

"We weren't…no…see…we just-" Pepper started to say at the same time Tony begun muttering protests too.

Jamie stared at them. "I want to see the end," he whined.

For a moment they looked horrified and then Pepper closed her eyes. "The movie, Tony. He's talking about the screen."

"Yeah," Tony said softly. "Okay, fine. Let's get kicked out of my penthouse by the five year old who wants to watch Madagascar on my screen. How has this become my life?"

Jamie didn't really know what he was asking.

"I…"Pepper sighed. "Do the talk shows."

Tony made a noise of extreme protest. "One."

"And get Steve back here," Pepper added. "If you had Captain America in the tower then perhaps people wouldn't be quite so worried at the fact the boys are being raised by a spy slash assassin, a doctor who can turn into an unpredictable creature and-"

Tony shifted and folded his arms. "And?"

"You," Pepper said, losing some speed. "Unreliable," she said in a tone that was both apologetic and yet strangely not.

Tony stared at her for the longest time. In fact it was the longest that Jamie had ever heard him be quiet and that was scary. Glaring at Pepper, Jamie stood and wandered over to Tony, leaning into his leg in the hopes it would help.

"And buy them some fruit," she added.

Something in Tony's jaw clicked frantically.

"I should have called you," he said suddenly, bending and hauling Jamie up to sit on his hip. "I should have discussed it with you, I get that. But they're kids, Pepper. Scared and deprived kids. And they're mine now."

Pepper watched them both and then nodded. "Buy fruit, Tony," she said sounding really tired suddenly. "And remember to leave the lab to eat."

"They eat," Tony protested. "I dunno where they put it but believe me, they eat."

"You need to take care of yourself," Pepper said as she picked up her things. "Without you these boys won't be able to stay here. "

Tony said nothing but Jamie felt himself being squeezed a little tighter. "I eat," Tony muttered and Jamie leaned into him. When he looked over, Pepper was watching them with a smile on her face.

"It suits you," she said to Tony.

"Who'd have thought?" Tony replied gently and turned as if to-

"No," Jamie yelped wriggling free. It seemed to surprise Tony so much that he simply allowed Jamie to slide down to the floor. "You can't sit there."

"It's my couch," Tony argued.

"It's Clint's seat," Jamie said stubbornly. "He asked me to protect it for him," he added, puffing up with pride at the memory.

"This doesn't happen," Tony said, his head whipping to Pepper. "This…this exact thing has never happened before…" he frowned down at Jamie and then shifted to the side and gingerly sat, keeping a questioning eyebrow fixed on Jamie. "And Barton's gonna be shooting dandelions when I'm through with him."

It looked as if Tony wouldn't shift over but you could never tell with him. Eyeing him suspiciously, Jamie plonked himself in the seat, covering as much of the surface area as he could, sprawling out his arms and legs and curling his feet just to ensure he formed a square shape.

"Oh, so you can sit on it," Tony complained.

"I have to look after it," Jamie sniffed. "I'm allowed," he added, craning his neck to see the movie. It wasn't comfortable but at least he was obeying directives.

"I tell you what, I need you to guard the remote controller-"

"Tony," Pepper said in a firm voice and then sighed. "You are the adult."

"So's Clint," Tony muttered handing Jamie the remote. "And don't let anyone touch it."

Jamie nodded solemnly, clutching the remote to his chest in a protective cradle. "Clint said he'd give me one less spoonful of ice-cream if I fail," he said, hoping to plant the suggestion that Tony should do something similar and not something normal.

"If you manage to keep it from Clint I'll give you his share of the ice-cream," Tony said, sitting back and spreading his arms back along the line of the couch. "Can I pick the talk show?" he asked Pepper.

"No," she said, tapping away at her phone and juggling all of her paperwork and folders.

"Just like that? No?"

"I don't want to do it," Jamie interrupted quietly, feeling a horrible sinking feeling ache within his chest. He held the remote back to Tony, ducking his head as he waited for whatever was going to come next for refusing to even try.

It was scary but Clint was nice and it seemed wrong to take his ice-cream. Jamie knew he'd hate it if it was taken from him; he was trying really hard not to think about when he would have to go back to not having it again. Especially as....we...they were all starting to talk about who was supposed to look after him and Adam. What if Clint and Tony and Bruce and even this Pepper Potts person decided to send him back and they had no ice-cream or pizza there and the tables were used for experiments again rather than juggling food?

A hand tapped at his chin and lifted it so that Jamie could look Tony in the eye. Hunching his shoulders the way Adam had taught him to so that it started to hide more vulnerable places, Jamie chewed at his lip and tried to keep quiet. Tony seemed to be searching for something intently, his eyes softening the longer he looked.

"Jamie, Tony and Clint were only being sil-"

Tony shushed Pepper violently and then continued to study Jamie. "Shall we guard Clint's seat together?" Tony asked gently. "And the remote. And if we keep hold of it I'll let you pick the next movie?"

That sounded better and it still meant he'd been trusted with something rather than having it taken away or being told he failed, which was good. Nodding slowly and very relieved, Jamie leaned into Tony, sucking at his thumb a little. When he looked up Pepper and Tony were staring at each other and, even though they didn't use any words, a lot of information seemed to be passing between them.

Pepper leaned down close and pressed a kiss to Jamie's nose. "I'll see you again soon," she said with a stern promise in her voice. Then she lifted her head to Tony and brushed a kiss against his cheek, whispering something that had Tony stiffen ever so slightly and keep his eyes fixed on her until she left the room.


	5. Battles and Pop-Tarts

"Guess what?" Jamie announced to Adam as he jumped on his brother. It was a bit annoying that Adam wanted to sleep in his own room now but it did mean that Jamie could jump on him to wake him up which always made Adam growl at him and wrestle a bit.

"Go away," Adam ordered, kicking out at him but gently so he didn't really mean it.

"That's not guessing," Jamie whined. "You have to do it properly."

He got a pillow in the face for his efforts.

"You're eleven."

It took a moment but slowly Adam pulled down the bed covers and peered at him curiously. "I am?" he asked and then furrowed his brow to think about it.

"And I made it to being seven," Jamie added, excited at the idea. That meant he'd beat the 'I's. the longer they were away the more he forgot about things like that but the 'I's had all been found one morning in their cells, covered in the blood they had coughed up everywhere and staring ahead with claw like hands.

Jamie studied his hands and frowned when his own hands couldn't quite make the same shapes.

Adam smiled a little bit at that and sat up properly. "Eleven," he muttered to himself, pleased. "Do you think we should tell someone to update our records?"

"Why?"

Adam seemed to nod at that and then peeled back his blankets to let Jamie snuggle in close.

"Do you remember the others?" Adam asked slowly, curling up around Jamie a little.

"A little bit," Jamie said as he peered at him, waiting for more but no extra information seemed to be coming his way. Not sure what to do, he lay his chin on Adam's chest and sighed. "I like you the best," he offered.

"Suck-up," Adam muttered which was Clint's new nickname for Jamie when Bruce was around. It made Tony laugh and infuriated Jamie once he'd looked up the definition.

"It's true," he said, cross and diving under the covers to wriggle free at the other end of the bed. He could hear Adam giggle and that made him even more annoyed, stomping his way to the floor and then out of the room to hunt down Clint.

"You're mean," he announced as he spotted the man in the kitchen on the phone.

Clint just shot him a thumbs up. "What do you mean you can't find them?" he asked sounding annoyed. "Christ, Nat, we've tracked harder targets than Steve. It's Steve! He can't find the shuffle option on his i-pod."

That hadn't quite had the impact that Jamie had hoped for. Clambering up on the stool, he then sat on the counter and tried to catch Clint's eye so that the man would know he was scowling.

"Yeah," Clint said, eyeing Jamie up now. "But his information is like a hundred years old." Then he rolled his eyes, "No, obviously not a hundred years old…no I'm not getting lazy. I'd have found them by now- hello?" He glared at the phone as he pulled it away from his ear and then looked at Jamie. "Never be friends with a head strong woman, kid. When you butt heads, it's you who suffers."

Whatever. "I'm not a suck-up," Jamie whined, standing up and placing his hands on Clint's shoulders. "Tell Adam I'm not a suck up."

Clint groaned. "I…He…I am not the peace negotiator," he said backing away from Jamie.

"You started it," Jamie demanded, following him as best he could, scrambling across the countertop of the island and secretly delighting in the fact he was eye level with Clint. "Tell me a worse word."

Clint hissed at that. "Ask Tony," he said.

It wasn't fair. Upset, Jamie sat where he'd been standing and scowled at the work surface, feeling utterly miserable.

"Here, have a poptart," Clint said, popping something in Jamie's mouth as he started to dial again. "I swear to God he just doesn't know how to charge a phone," he muttered as he stared at the ceiling. "Hi, Davidson? Yeah, look, have you heard anything about someone swinging a shield around by your way?" Clint made a biting action at Jamie as if Jamie needed instructions on how to eat.

He was seven now.

"No, Not during world war two…though how long ago was that exactly?"

Whatever Clint was talking about it was boring with a capital 'B'. Instead, Jamie scowled when Adam came in and broke off part of the pop tart to throw it at his brother who annoyingly caught it and sent it straight back at Jamie's nose.

Furious, Jamie threw the whole thing at Adam and then jumped off the work top to find Bruce.

"It's sticky," Adam complained and then wedged it in his face. "Suck up."

It was mean and unfair and Clint preferred the phone and there was that horrible word and no-one would help him and…and…

Jamie hit Adam in the face.

And got walloped back.

Hard.

Fine.

Jamie dived at Adam, not really sure what to do because everyone knew that Adam was better and smarter and more special but Jamie was mad and it wasn't fair. At all.

"Fucking hell," Clint yelped suddenly close. "Whoa," he said, pulling Adam back. "We have talked about this-"

"He started it," Adam yelled. "He threw this at me," he added, kicking at the crunched up poptart.

"I hate you," Jamie shouted. "Both of you."

Both of them looked taken aback and Clint took a step back with Adam. He was holding onto Adam and not Jamie and had paid attention to Adam when he'd come in and ignored Jamie.

The world blurred and hot tears spilled down his cheeks as he stared at the arm Clint was keeping around Adam. No-one was coming to be on his side and Jamie swallowed back the need to sob out how much that hurt.

Clint took a deep breath and then levelled a finger at Jamie. "You can't start fights," he said, sounding unsteady as he said it.

"You like him better," Jamie accused and earned himself a fierce look from them both and a gaping mouth from Clint.

"You…you need to go to your room," Clint said, still gripping Adam.

Fine. Jamie stalked out and glared mutinously at Adam. "You were nicer when you were ten," he hissed as he left, ignoring Clint's baffled questions. The moment got to his room he drew the curtains tight, casting the room into shadows which felt appropriate for his mood and, hopefully, meant that Jarvis couldn't see he was almost crying.

 

He'd barely been in his room for half an hour when Clint stormed in, arrows on his back and lifted Jamie clean off the bed without a word.

"I still hate-"

"Okay," Clint said, sounding odd. "Listen to me, you need to go with Adam and listen to everything that he tells you."

"Will not," Jamie scoffed as he was carried through the halls. "I don't-"

He stopped when he saw the window.

Outside there were silent explosions and a helicopter that was firing at a red blur-

Jamie sucked his breath in at the sight of Iron Man trying to avoid being hit by the explosions. The world outside looked like a scene from one of the action movies that Adam liked but it wasn't awesome or cool or the other words Tony and Clint had tried to teach them. It was their home and it was being destroyed and that was Tony and what if he died or-

"Listen to me," Clint said, putting him on the floor. "You listen to your brother. You do everything he says. Do you understand me?"

Jamie stared at him and then at the window, terrified. "I didn't mean it," he sobbed, launching himself at Clint. "Don't let them take me back."

Clint made an odd sound and reached to detach him. "They aren't here for you. I just…we need you two to hide. We…" he winced and looked up. "We really should have planned better for this," he muttered. "Adam?"

Adam was there with a knife and his eyes back to that expressionless mask he'd used to have. "Get up," he barked at Jamie.

But-

"J3."

Clint flinched and opened his mouth and then winced and stood, striding to the window and not looking back.

No crying allowed. Or freezing up. Jamie nodded and stood, trying to suck away his tears and not be weak.

That was probably why they didn't like him as much as they liked Adam.

His wrist was taken in an iron grip as Adam raced for the stairs with him, taking them down to the training rooms. He ignored the equipment and shoved Jamie at the climbing wall.

"Up," he ordered.

It was harder than he remembered. Probably because he hadn't done anything lately and the fact burned in his belly just the way it did in his arms and legs. They climbed until Adam pointed him in the direction of a tiny hold in the wall, just big enough for them to wriggle in.

Inside was a gun.

Adam picked it up and lay on his belly, the gun in enough that it would be hidden by the shadows cast by the climbing wall and the low light in the area but they could see the only entrance. There was just enough light to see the signal Adam gave him to be silent.

Jamie obeyed.

Jamie, he repeated to himself. Even if they took him back, even if everyone hated him he wanted to hold onto the name.

Jamie. He'd made it to seven.

He closed his eyes and repeated it in his head over and over and over.

 

It was hard to tell how long they waited up in their vantage point. It seemed like days but it probably wasn't. And it was endlessly silent. Only Adam's breathing helped to remind Jamie that they were alive and still in the tower, that someone hadn't already stolen them back.

A loud clatter made Jamie freeze and clap a hand over his mouth determined to cover the sound of his breath. And then there was light and fire and a red and golden suit coming up to them.

"Adam?" Tony asked, the face plate flipping back. "It's okay, give me the gun."

"There could still be hostiles," Adam said tightly, his whole body taunt like when Jamie tied a string really tight.

"Clint told you this was just a precaution. Do you really think we'd let anyone in here to hurt you?" Tony asked, sliding a hand to cup Adam's cheek. "Come on, buddy. Give me the gun and come here."

With a long glance at Tony and then an equally long assessment of the entrance, Adam handed over the gun and then wriggled out and into Tony's arms. Tony pulled him close, still flying and keeping steady as he pressed a kiss to Adam's blond hair.

"You were so brave," he whispered to Adam and then pulled in a breath. "And where's my other brave man?"

Jamie stayed silent and pushed himself as far back into the hole as he could.

"Jamie?" Tony said softly, his head angling as if he couldn't quite see into the hole. "Your brother is in there, isn't he?" he asked Adam sounding a bit worried.

Adam nodded, still keeping his arms wrapped around Tony.

"J-"

"Stark?" a man was calling. Adam stiffened and tried to go for the gun only to have Tony shush him gently. "You can't deny him sanctuary."

Tony made his frustrated sound. "Any hints about why this moment might not be the one to continue that argument?" he asked and Jamie panicked as his voice sounded further away. A glance confirmed it, Tony was dropping slowly to the floor with Adam.

No.

Scared, Jamie peeked out of the hole and down at the blond man that had walked in. He was tall. Really tall and he had blood on his forehead and a shield on his back and looked mighty mad with Tony.

"You have a kid?" Steve asked sounding baffled.

"How have you missed this?" Tony asked, keeping hold of Adam. "It's been plastered everywhere. Only you could manage to completely bypass major events. Did you find another piece of ice to nap in?"

The blond man hesitated, his eyes lingering on Adam. "Congratulations," he said dryly. "And I can assure you that Bucky will go no-where near your son."

"You're damn right he won't because he isn't staying here."

"He needs protection, Tony. This is the only place where I can safely continue to get his memories back-"

Tony dropped Adam down to the ground and shifted so that he was in between Adam and the man. "You want to protect a ninety odd year old brainwashed assassin who is so scary that they use him as a bogey man to baby assassins and I want to protect two innocent and terrified kids. Think I win. Oh, and it's my tower so I win times a million."

"Kids?" the man asked looking around. "Where's-"

"In there," Tony yelled as if he'd suddenly lost his temper. "And I haven't even been able to check on him yet because you keep whining about the fact that I won't let you have your friend over to play."

The man stared at him and then at Adam before slowly lifting his eyes up to where Jamie was.

And met Jamie's eyes.

Then he looked down and nodded slowly, backing away and sitting down on one of the spectator benches with a heavy sigh, reaching back to detach the shield.

Tony murmured something to Adam and then flew up again. Jamie pressed himself down to the floor of the hole and watched Tony quietly.

"So, you have a new word you don't like," Tony said in that conversational tone he used when he wanted Jamie to talk about something really important.

Jamie shrugged and rubbed his chin on his knuckled where he lay.

"You gonna come flying with me?" Tony asked.

No. Jamie shook his head and Tony drew in a long breath, face screwing up with annoyance. Below, Clint walked in, his arm streaked with blood but he didn't seem to let it stop him as he strode to Adam and pulled him into a long hug.

Jamie slunk back in the hole.

"Come on Jim-Jam," Tony said, sounding false. "I'll give you pizza. As much as you can eat."

It was tempting but…but Adam never asked and he was getting all the hugs so maybe it was wrong to demand and ask for things and…he could have got everyone killed because he almost hadn't managed to climb.

He was bad.

"Shit," Tony hissed and turned to look down at Clint who was now staring up with worry.

"Jamie," Tony said, turning his attention back to the hole and going in up to where the suit would allow. "I promise you, everything is safe now. No more guns or helicopters. Just us. Nothing to be scared of."

Maybe. "I forgot," Jamie whispered.

"What?" Tony asked, craning forward even more. "What did you forget?"

"What to do," Jamie said, curling away from Tony. "Adam remembered and I forgot."

"Jamie," Tony sighed. "Kiddo, you're supposed to forget. I don't want you to remember all those horrible things that happened to you. I want you to be happy."

"I wasn't brave."

"You wanna bet?" Tony asked, his smile looking as fake as his tone. "I'll go round up some six year olds and we'll see how many-"

"Seven," Jamie confessed, waiting for Tony's smile to change. "I'm seven now."

Tony was silent and then he nodded and pulled back a little, just as Jamie had expected. When he came close again after a minute, he looked sad.

No.

"Don't send me away," Jamie begged, scrambling to him. "Please, I'll be good, I'll do sit ups and training and I won't ask for pancakes or pizza and I'll stop stealing the elastic bands and I won't talk back and I'll be good. I 'll try to be-"

Tony pulled him out almost painfully and then he was in the air with Tony's arms fiercely around him as Tony held him close. "You are good," Tony hissed in his ear. "Don't you dare stop being my little brat, do you hear me?"

"You all like Adam better," Jamie sobbed into his shoulder. "You listen to him and he doesn't make you mad and you don't call him a suck up."

"Okay," Tony said, stroking his hair. "We won't-"

"I'm not lying to make people like me," Jamie argued still crying. "I thought you already liked me."

Tony laughed. "Oh kid, you really do have a brilliant brain," he muttered. "Weird as hell but brilliant. We won't tease you using that word anymore. Promise."

Jamie frowned, unable to clutch onto the armour and settling for tangling a hand in Tony's hair which made him wince slightly as they landed on the floor.

Clint stared at him, almost horrified. "Jamie," he started to say.

"Holy God," the blond man from earlier breathed.

"Did you just take the Lord's name in vain?" Tony asked, looking at him. "Are you allowed to do that?"

"Where did you get them from?" the man asked, standing.

"Seriously? Now? You think the time to go through this is when I've just managed to get one out of a hole and the other one has been hyperventilating at pointing a gun for three hours?"

The man pressed his lips together. "Lab?"

"Did you just hear-"

"Yes," Clint said, lifting Adam up.

The man sat down again and then stared at Jamie, almost in awe. Even through the suit Jamie could feel Tony stiffen. The two men stared at each other and Jamie tried to sink into Tony but the suit was too hard and it didn't feel safe the way it usually did.

"Three hours," Tony said eventually. "Your pal can stay downstairs though."

The man nodded, still looking dazed.

"And Steve," Tony said as he started to stride towards the exit. "No matter what you say, or what you think you know, they are not leaving this tower. Understood?"

The man…Steve nodded.

 

It took Tony no time at all to get out of the suit. There seemed to have been some agreement that Clint would stay with Adam while Jamie got Tony.

Jamie didn't know where Bruce was. Tony just said that he was calming himself down and taking a chill pill. Instead Tony took him into his room and then into his own bathroom, sitting him on the counter there.

"Adam got you pretty good," Tony murmured as he swept a hand over Jamie's lip. It throbbed at the touch and, curious, Jamie wriggled to glance in the mirror. There was a colourful bruise forming around the split in his lip and a glancing yellow bruise by his cheek.

"I threw a pop tart at him," Jamie confessed turning back to Tony.

Instead of yelling the man just snorted. "It happens," he said. "Or so I've been told. Hold still," he ordered as he put some cream on Jamie's lip. It stung and Jamie hissed, kicking his feet back a little and then freezing when the cupboards under him creaked.

Tony watched him. "Scared today?"

Ashamed, Jamie nodded, staring at his feet.

"So was I," Tony said after a moment as he dabbed Jamie's lip again. "The last time I felt like that…" he swallowed and put the cream down on the side. "You know you never have to worry about you being sent away, right?"

Jamie shrugged.

"Ever," Tony said fiercely, lifting Jamie's chin. "If anyone tried to take you away we would rain the apocalypse down on them, you know what that means?"

Jamie hummed, swinging his feet carefully this time. "You'd come and get me?"

"Yeah. No matter what. All of us would."

"Even if I don't train and forget to fight?"

Tony sighed and turned, lifting himself up to sit next to Jamie. "I think we'll schedule you in a few times a week to work with Clint. And maybe…" he trailed off. "With someone at least."

"You?"

Tony shook his head but didn't explain why. Instead, he wrapped an arm around Jamie and pulled him in close.

"So, seven huh?" Tony asked after a while. "Any better than six?"

"I've only been seven for a few days," Jamie said as he pushed in close to Tony and ignored the slight hiss.

"We should pick a date then," Tony said softly. "So that you can have a birthday next year."

Jamie blinked up at Tony.

"Come on," Tony said with a sigh as he slid off the counter and pulled Jamie down with him and then lifted him into the main room and the bed there.

Jamie huffed and flopped back down onto the bed and then yelped when it wasn't quite as springy as he was used to. But Tony pulled the blankets over him and guided his head to the pillow and sat next to him, stroking his hair while he stared at the window.

"Is Adam in Clint's room?" Jamie asked feeling surprisingly sleepy.

"No," Tony said, still staring at the window. "You'll see him in the morning," he added slowly. 

It was easy to slide into sleep when Tony was there to protect him.


	6. Jeans

"Good morning, Jamie," Jarvis said.

No.

Scowling at the idea, Jamie lifted the blankets over his head and jammed his face into the pillow. It seemed to work fine for a bit and slowly he started to wake up and stare at the light coloured sheets.

He was in Tony's bed.

Curious, he kicked out to the side and his feet didn't even come off the bed. He tried again with the other side and then wriggled down trying to see how far he could go before he came to the end.

When he finally peeked out at the bottom of the bed, Tony was standing there, brow furrowed as he watched Jamie.

"It's big," Jamie told him.

"Right," Tony said as if Jamie might be lying. Which he definitely wasn't because the bed really was massive but maybe it seemed smaller when you were grown up. Twisting, Jamie sat up and stared at the bed and the mess of blankets that he'd left in his wake.

It was still really big.

Jamie crawled out, dropping his hands to the floor and then flipping over in a kind of backwards roll which took half of the bedding with him.

That hadn't been the plan! Panicked, he scrambled up and tried to tug it back, confused by how it was meant to lie on the bed and-

When he turned back, Tony was still watching him.

"Should I put it back?" Jamie asked, not liking how quiet Tony was.

"It's fine," Tony said looking away suddenly. "Go and forage for food while I shower."

Jamie nodded and stared at Tony.

"I'm tired, kid," Tony said after a moment. "Go and get some food. "

Oh. Jamie nodded and crept over to the door, peeking around it cautiously.

The hall was missing a wall although everything was neat and tidy. His room was hidden by a sheet and when he snuck around it the entire thing was all boxed up and was gleaming with a fresh blue on the walls. Everything smelt of paint which was a good smell but far too much of it.

A glance at the kitchen showed that there were two new men; one of them was the tall blond man from yesterday and the other was a black man who was grinning at something from where he sat at the kitchen counter.

There was a bright flash of red as well.

He couldn't see Clint or Bruce or Pepper and Tony was in the shower so…Oddly nervous, Jamie pushed at the door to Adam's room instead.

His brother was fast asleep and Jamie stared at him for a long time, trying to work out what to do. In the end, he crept close and then sat by Adam's bed, wrapping his arms around his knees as he stared at his brother's face.

Moments later, Adam opened his eyes.

They definitely had the same eyes. That was always the best thing about looking at Adam. Jamie had no idea why it was a comfort but it was; they were the same shape, the same colour and Adam and Jamie had spent ages in the mirror trying to check to make sure they were exactly the same. But today they were red rimmed and there was crust on his cheeks as if he'd been crying.

They stared at each other for a long moment and then Jamie ducked his head. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Me too," Adam whispered, his voice sounding hoarse.

Jamie nodded. "And I'm not a suck up?" he tested.

Adam blinked and looked confused for a moment then he rolled his eyes and turned onto his back. Jamie watched him, not sure what he was meant to do until Adam shoved the blanket down creating a perfect space for Jamie to get into.

"Say it," Jamie ordered, eyeing the space up.

"You're not a suck up," Adam said without any tone in his voice.

Good. Jamie scrambled up and snuggled in. "And I'm sorry I couldn't climb the wall quickly," he added.

Adam nodded and then turned to him again, touching the split lip. "It didn't heal," he said sounding annoyed.

Jamie ducked back into the pillow.

"It used to," Adam said, shifting until they were face to face. "Remember?"

"It hurt though," Jamie murmured, thinking of the dreaded table and the needles and the things in them that made his body burn or his head throb. Adam nodded in sympathy and then bit at his lip.

"There are people in the kitchen," Jamie told him, feeling it was important. Adam liked to know those things otherwise he got worried or went to a corner somewhere.

"New people?" Adam asked, stiffening slightly and moving so that he could see the head over Jamie's head.

"The man from yesterday."

Adam stared at him blankly.

"The blond man?" Jamie prompted and then felt a weird blend of self-pride and rocked worry that Adam hadn't notice the man. He must have been really…well…

Scared?

"I think the red haired lady is back too," Jamie added. "And another man."

Adam continued to stare at the door and then slid his hand under the pillow.

And panicked. He jerked up and started to frantically pat around the bed and then tipped off to scrabble under the bed.

"I can't find the knife," Adam hissed at Jamie.

Uh-oh. Jamie backed off the bed and started to search the drawers, tossing everything to the side in his haste.

They completely turned the room upside down, vaguely remembered tasks where they'd been instructed to work in tandem echoed at the back of his mind and Jamie managed to work with Adam to systematically tear apart the room.

It wasn't there.

Adam was shaking.

Suddenly furious, Jamie darted out and glared down the hall that led to Tony's room. It seemed unlikely that Tony had the knife on him because water wasn't good for knives and even Jamie knew that.

Instead, he walked into the kitchen, feeling a little braver when he spotted Clint sitting on the sofas with the red headed woman and the two new men. They seemed to be talking quietly and there was a sharp smell of coffee.

"Jamie," Clint said, spotting him. "Hey, kid, do you want-"

Jamie threw him a foul look and stalked to the knife block, pulling out the longest and sharpest one he could see through the glass. After a moment's consideration, he pulled out another one and then raised his chin at Clint.

"Uh…should we…"

Jamie didn't stick around to hear what the black man had to say. And it was a shame because he'd been smiling earlier and had looked like he might be okay. Instead, he gave them all a long glare and stalked back into the hall.

"Here," Jamie said, handing a knife to Adam who was hovering by his door. His brother visibly relaxed as he took the knife. Jamie watched as Adam twisted it over his hand a few times, every time he completed a turn Adam's shoulders fell and relaxed.

"Clint's there," Jamie offered as he stared at the knife, not really sure what to do with it but feeling as if he ought to keep it to prove a point.

Adam paused and looked at the door and then studied Jamie. "Remember how to use it?" he asked.

Jamie hefted the knife and then threw it into the air, catching it neatly by the handle and then grinned at Adam. His brother stepped close and tapped Jamie's knife with his own. Jamie instantly tossed the knife over Adam's and caught it with the other hand, moving out of the way so that Adam's knife had nothing to catch.

Adam twisted the knife in his hand and went the other way, allowing Jamie to perfect the move again. It was harder to catch with his left hand but he managed it.

The fourth time he did it Adam caught Jamie's knife with a sudden move and tossed it on the bed behind him. "Remember how to block?" he asked.

Sort of – ish.

Adam stabbed the knife forward and Jamie let the knife come through, throwing up his hands to block at the hilt, keeping the back of his hand to the flat part of the blade to push it up without risking getting his hands shredded.

"Move as you do it," Adam instructed. "I'm stronger, I could still push through. There needs to be nothing there." He turned back to the knife on the bed and tossed it to Jamie. "Try to kill me."

Right. Jamie let Adam slide back and then thrust again. This time Jamie blocked, side stepping as he did and tapped with his foot at Adam's leg. Adam grinned and shifted, distributing his weight as if it had been a proper kick. In the time he had, Jamie tossed the knife from one hand to the other and swung around, slowing down to tap Adam's shoulder with the blade. Adam reacted as if the blade had cut through and staggered allowing Jamie enough time to toss the knife again and, twist it using the hilt to tap Adam in the stomach rather than the blade.

Adam laughed and backed away. "You're better without the test men watching," he decided.

Jamie beamed.

 

They wandered out together, curiously peering at the people assembled in the seating area. Tony was out of the shower and was banging things around the kitchen while glaring at them all.

Bruce was there.

Forgetting that he was mad with Tony and Clint for taking away Adam's knife and forgetting that he wasn't sure about the other people, Jamie flew across the room and jumped at Bruce, relieved that he was okay.

Mid-air he was caught and pulled close, Bruce cupping his head and hugging him tightly. Moments later there was a thud by his legs and Adam was there. They dipped a little as Bruce ducked his head to Adam and quietly asked if he was okay.

Even Jamie could feel Adam's nod.

"Do you want some breakfast?" Bruce asked quietly.

Jamie shook his head, not wanting the hold to end. "Did you get hurt?" he asked pulling back and Adam peered up scrutinising Bruce.

Bruce actually looked amused. "No," he said. "The big guy keeps me safe."

Big guy? Jamie looked down at Adam curiously hoping he might have some answers but Adam looked just as blank.

They lost Bruce's attention as he drew in a long breath and nodded in the direction of the blond man…Steve?...who had stood up and was hunching his shoulders as he drew in a nervous breath.

Bruce slid Jamie down to the floor and crouched down between them. "We have guests," he said. "There's Natasha," he said and nodded at the red haired woman who was regarding them coolly. "And Sam," he added with a nod at the other man who was still sat down and had that reassuring smile back on his face which made Jamie want to smile back.

"And this," Bruce said. "Is Steve."

He said it as if Steve was someone important and Jamie stared up at him curiously remembering that the man had had an argument with Tony yesterday.

Steve looked down at them and smiled a smile that didn't look real. Slowly Jamie looked at Adam who glanced back at him.

"Have you got weird tea?" Adam asked Bruce, peering into the mug that was on the table. Jamie peered over but was slower and just caught sight of Steve's face falling.

"Food," Tony called from the kitchen.

"You took the knife," Jamie muttered, staring intently into the tea.

"You took two," Tony said, glaring at Steve.

"Tony," Clint snapped.

It made Tony slam the plate down. Not sure what was happening, Jamie pushed into Bruce and looked at all the adults.

"I took the knife," Clint said slowly, looking back at the pair.

Oh. That was okay then. Winding through Bruce's hold, Jamie skipped over to the island and clambered onto the stool, resting his chin on his hands. "I want pancakes," Jamie informed Tony.

Tony glared at him.

"You said I should keep being a brat," Jamie said, suddenly confused.

Then Tony smiled and slunk his eyes behind Jamie, a small smirk on his face. Then he grinned. "With chocolate?" he asked.

Really? Jamie nodded enthusiastically and then spun on his seat to stare at Bruce. Next to him, he felt Tony lean on the counter top and place his head on Jamie's shoulder.

Adam turned to Bruce hopefully.

"Right," Bruce said slowly. "I see." He looked down at Adam and sighed heavily. "I don't approve of this," he muttered to Tony as he walked towards the kitchen.

"We do," Tony said, scooping Jamie off the counter and over his shoulder.

"We really do," Jamie sing-songed as Bruce went past and then laughed at the expression of sheer disgust on Bruce's face as he stared at the plate of food that Tony had been in charge of.

"You really should look into getting a chef," Bruce murmured as he tipped the plate in the trash can.

"I'm pretty sure I have one," Tony replied as he righted Jamie and lowered him to the ground. "Give me back the knife," he said.

"No."

"Uh…shall we try yes?"

Huh? "I don't want to?" Jamie said, not sure that it was an answer that would let him keep the knife.

"I don't want you to have the knife."

That did make things tricky. "Maybe we should ask Pepper," Jamie suggested.

"I'm teaching him," Adam muttered, coming close.

"I saw," Tony said, not looking pleased. "Butter knives only from now on."

Well that was no fun.

 

Breakfast was yummy and he and Adam practically raced to see who would finish first. Steve watched them the entire time but Jamie had no idea why. He offered out Bruce's cooking skills but Steve shook his head looking confused.

And then he kept looking at the clock.

"Tony," he said when Jamie had just managed to nag Adam into watching something called the Karata Kid with him. "You said two o clock."

"ah, missed it," Tony said as he sat on the floor, fiddling with the gauntlets from a suit. "Guess we'll have to do it tomorrow."

There was a long, disapproving sound. "We have had this discussion," Steve said sounding tight. "I agree with everything you said but…one meeting."

Tony said nothing, biting on a screwdriver as he checked the movement.

The silence dragged for the first ten minutes of the film which was set in a whole different country. Then Steve sighed. "You are aware you are raising children not becoming them yourself?" he asked as he sat forward on the seat.

"Am I?" Tony asked.

Jamie nodded, not too sure if he liked the film. "Being a kid is rubbish," he said to Tony earnestly. "No-one lets me fight."

Tony grinned at him. "Really? Pretty sure I saw someone ignoring that this morning?"

"I was cheering Adam up," Jamie whined.

"Were not," Adam muttered, eyes fixed on the screen.

Liar. Jamie dug his elbow into Adam's ribs and only succeeded in making his brother roll his eyes. When he looked back, Steve was watching with a smile on his face but his eyes were far away as if he were remembering something. When he noticed Jamie looking at him, Steve shook himself and his smile grew a little.

"You're tall," Jamie decided, giving up on the movie and grinning when he heard Adam sigh in annoyance at his talking. "I want to be that tall."

Well…He wanted to be taller than Adam but it seemed stupid to give that away before it happened.

""I'm not sure it's in your genes, pal," Steve said turning more towards him.

Tony paused.

Jeans? Confused, Jamie stared down at his jeans trying to work out what he was meant to have in them that might make him tall. Glancing over at Steve's legs he saw that he wasn't wearing jeans. Maybe that was it. Maybe wearing jeans made you short.

Tony was wearing jeans and he was shorter than Steve. But if Tony wore jeans then Jamie wanted to wear them.

"Do you always wear jeans?" he asked Tony who was still glaring at Steve.

Brown eyes snapped to his and then Tony snorted. But when his eyes danced to Adam Tony looked a little less sure because Adam was staring at Steve with suspicion.

Jamie kicked at the sofa, annoyed. He always missed things. They all knew something and they weren't telling him. "I'm not a baby," he complained to Tony.

But Adam seemed to be more interesting at the moment and Tony asked Jarvis to pause the movie. "Oh and get Bruce to come up here," he added.

"Why?" Steve asked.

"I want to have a word with Adam."

"And I can't be trusted to talk to Jamie?" Steve sounded mad.

"I want to talk to you," Jamie whined, turning to look at Tony properly, placing his chin on the arm of the sofa hopefully. Annoyingly, Tony just glanced at him and then refocused on Adam.

So Jamie kicked back at Adam.

"Stop it," Adam hissed, hitting his leg.

It stung and made Jamie suck in a surprised breath. The skin felt tender where Adam had hit and Jamie curled away from him, wary. He looked over at Tony.

"Don't hit him and he won't hit you back," Tony said sounding almost bored. "He hits harder Try to remember that."

Oh. Apparently it was fine that he'd reacted to Adam's hit. Or maybe Tony hadn't seen…or heard. Deciding to risk it, Jamie stuck his thumb in his mouth, sucking a little and enjoying the sensation and the comfort it brought.

Tony glanced at him again and rolled his eyes but that was it. Turning into the sofa, Jamie curled against the back, making himself as small as possible just in case they suddenly changed their minds and enjoyed the slither of comfort he got.

"Is everything okay?" Bruce's voice asked.

"Yeah," Tony said briskly. "Adam and I need to have a chat," he added and Jamie could hear him stand.

"Is Jamie-"

"He's sulking," Tony muttered.

He wasn't. Scowling at the sofa back he curled in tighter and then froze when he felt someone sit close to him.

"What did you say?" Bruce asked.

For a moment Jamie thought Bruce was talking to him but it was Steve who sighed. "I….made some comment about…"

"Jeans," Jamie muttered to the sofa. "I like jeans."

There was a small laugh from Bruce and then a soothing hand in his hair. "Adam isn't stupid," Bruce said slowly.

Hey. Jamie stuck his head up and glared. "I'm not stupid either," he complained around his thumb. Bruce glanced down at him and then his eyes danced to Jamie's thumb. Defiantly, Jamie stared back, watching Bruce closely as the man reached out to unhook the thumb from Jamie's mouth.

"You'll ruin your teeth," Bruce said gently and then looked over his head. "Why are you looking so annoyed?"

"I'm not."

Bruce stared and raised an eyebrow.

"We were meant to see Bucky an hour ago," Steve said sounding tired. "Tony ignored it."

"Do you think it's wise?"

Not too sure what they were talking about, Jamie leaned into Bruce's side and grinned when the man tugged him onto his lap. He was able to stare at Steve who head leaned forwards and had his elbows on his knees.

"He needs it," Steve said to the floor. "He needs to see them, to know that they aren't…to make them real for him."

"He's an adult," Bruce said. "They're two traumatised children-"

"He's been through more than-"

"Children," Bruce said firmly.

Steve said nothing but didn't seem that bothered about arguing. "I can't help him," he said eventually. "I…I'm useless when it comes to Bucky."

Under him Bruce heaved a sigh that lifted Jamie up and down. "I know it must be hard but...there is no quick fix."

"Tony can do those," Jamie added, trying to help.

Steve tilted his head to the side and smiled at Jamie. "Tony seems very protective."

"He rescued them, brought them home. After everything he went through with Pepper…I kind of think he needs this." Bruce pulled Jamie in a little tighter. "And this one could practically be his clone some days."

"Not a clone," Jamie muttered. The test men had complained about that often enough.

"Still," Steve said, shooting him an odd look. "I wouldn't have put money on Tony Stark being father material."

"I don't think Tony would have. He looks confused as hell whenever they've gone to sleep."

Steve snorted at that.

 

Steve left ten minutes later after being summoned by Jarvis and then Bruce took him to his lab and let him play with some of the liquids and powders making things froth up.

It was awesome. And Bruce let him stand on the counter.

He didn't see Adam or Tony all day and that night Adam locked his door while Tony drunk that drink that smelled disgusting.


	7. Definitions

The man had almost the same name as Jamie. Not quite though and Steve kept calling him 'Bucky' instead which seemed very strange given that his name was James.

Jamie was pretty sure the two names didn't even use the same letters, though he would have to write them out later just to check. His writing was getting pretty good now; Bruce was teaching him and Jamie liked it when Bruce told him things.

Not now though. Now Bruce was silent, leaning against the wall in the far shadows and close to the wall in case he needed air. Jamie wasn't entirely sure that was the truth because Tony had said it in that way that meant he was joking or trying to be funny so…

Jamie wanted air.

The man on the otherside of the glass had a metal arm and was staring at Adam, had been since they'd entered the room. And Adam must have met the man before on the three previous days when he simply disappeared for ages because he seemed to know James.

"Bucky," Steve said softly. "Jamie's here as well."

The man looked up, dragging his gaze from Adam and stared at Jamie for a long moment before his gaze returned, as if snapped back with a rubber band, to Adam.

That was normal.

Not sure what to do as he stood on his own opposite the glass, too far away from Adam to lean in or reach for him, Jamie shifted and then started to bite at his thumb.

"Bucky," Steve started in that voice that meant he was going to scold.

"Not my name," James snapped. "And he's not mine."

The adults flinched and Jamie curled in on himself a little, not following the conversation but understanding whatever it was about that it wasn't a good one to be having.

"We ran the tests-" Bruce said quietly.

"They made him. I…" James raised red rimmed eyes to Steve. "I had no part in it. Another thing that they-" he broke off and looked away then back at Adam, his gaze softening slightly.

Steve looked stunned. "But…"

Bruce slammed the door behind him and that was it. Jamie was on his own with Adam who was still staring at James with the same intensity that James was staring at him and with Steve who looked…well…as if he couldn't decide what to be.

Suddenly Jamie didn't want to be there. He wanted Tony or even Clint who he could forgive for stealing Adam's knife if he would just come and rescue him and-

Jamie back up, slinking back into the shadows, hoping they would forget about him. And for a moment it seemed to work; no-one looked for him or called for him-

_Failure._

Chin trembling, he continued back until he was at the walls.

"You asked," Steve said suddenly sounding mad. "You wanted-"

"I wanted my son. Not their manufactured doll."

"He's a child, Buck."

"He's theirs."

Steve muttered something under his breath and Adam seemed rooted to the spot. Steve strode over to him looking like he was trying to calm down and crouched down to Jamie. "Shall we go back upstairs?" he asked gently. "We can do some drawing together?"

Jamie nodded slowly. Yesterday, he'd discovered that Steve could draw things that looked like they came from the screen or from those glossy pages that Tony had and that was brilliant and maybe one day Jamie could draw like that and people would say he was special and-

"Never bring him back."

Jamie was close enough to see the dancing fury in Steve's eyes but the man said nothing, only firmed his lips into a thin white line and lifted Jamie up without effort. "Adam," he said softly as he turned and Jamie buried his head into Steve's shoulder so he wouldn't have to look at the mean man.

James or whatever his name was hissed in annoyance. "That's not his na-"

"This was a mistake," Steve muttered and held out his spare arm for Adam. But Jamie's brother shook his head and took a step closer to the glass.

"Steve," James said, his tone suddenly different. "Please."

"No," Steve said sounding a little shaken. "Maybe…not unsupervised. Adam." He said again, an order in his voice this time.

Adam trailed over reluctantly, looking at Jamie in an odd way that Jamie wasn't too sure was a good thing. Scared because Adam had never looked like that, Jamie clung onto Steve even tighter and wished that the mean man with one arm had never bothered to come.

 

As soon as they were out the door Jamie wriggled to be put down as Steve tried to say something to Adam. Jamie didn't even pretend to care and flew away from them as soon as Steve let his toes touch the ground.

Ignoring Steve calling after him, Jamie ran. Ran up the stairs and along, then down in a route that he was so familiar with he could do it in his sleep.

Straight to Tony's workshop.

Jarvis must have told him because Tony was already stepping out and stopped at the sight of Jamie running to him. Bending, he swung Jamie into his arms and then let out a choked noise of surprise when Jamie wrapped his arms as tight as he could around Tony's neck just in case someone tried to make him go back.

"Hey," Tony said, stroking his hair. "What happened to you…" he tilted his head. "Jarvis?"

"Yes sir?"

"Have they been with our…house guest?" Tony almost spat the word.

"Indeed, sir. Mr Barnes had denied involvement and interest in the youngest."

Tony cussed.

For like a minute.

 

He didn't really know why he was sad. Nor why he wanted to cry and hold on as tight as he could to Tony and make sure the man didn't let go or have a yucky drink or get lost in an invention.

He didn't know why but he did it. And Tony sat with him on the sofas, rocking him gently and muttering under his breath as he did it.

"Why didn't you-"

"Fragile control," Bruce's voice said slowly. "I had to…is he all right?"

Jamie could feel Tony shake his head. "Only silver lining is he's too young to understand."

There was a long silence and then footsteps and Jamie felt Bruce's scarred hands lift his chin so that he could look up into those warm brown eyes. They locked gazes and then Bruce bent a kiss to his forehead and pulled back.

"Forget today," he suggested as if it wasn't important. "Don't give it another thought."

Jamie snuggled in closer to Tony and stared up at him instead but Tony was staring out the window, jaw clicking.

 

"I'm sorry."

It was Steve's voice. Feigning sleep, Jamie listened closely, pleased by the fact that he could still feel and smell Tony as the man continued to hold him.

"Did you take Adam back?" Tony asked in a strange tone.

"No," Steve said, sounding hurt. "I took him for a walk. We talked. But…" Steve seemed to struggle. "He is curious, Tony. And I get that Bucky can't have Adam, he's…the man I know wouldn't do that. Couldn't do what he just did today. He'd fake it at least while Jamie was there but there's a connection between them and…there's a damn long way to go and I…I pushed too hard."

"Really?" Tony asked in that way that meant he was actually saying the opposite of what the words he was using. "What tipped you off?"

Steve said nothing and Jamie had almost fallen asleep when he felt Tony tap on the sofa arm. "What?"

"Hm?"

"You have that look, that sad kick me, wounded puppy look. Don't teach the kids that, they'll be even more spoiled than they are. We'll never get green coloured food in them."

Jamie peeked an eye open but Steve had stood up and was out of his line of sight.

"I really thought...out of Jamie and Adam believe me, Jamie is the spit of Bucky. I thought…" Steve kicked at something and Tony shifted Jamie a little in his arms and rested his cheek on Jamie's hair.

"I shouldn't have put that on them," Steve said after a moment. "Bruce was right; they're kids not a miracle cure."

"So I was right?" Tony asked.

Even Jamie had a feeling that Tony probably shouldn't say that. Lifting his head he scowled at Tony. "Be nice," he said, sure that it was what Pepper said to Tony on the phone whenever she called.

The corner of Tony's mouth lifted and he rearranged Jamie on his lap so that he could see Jamie's face properly. "Feeling better, little man?"

Wriggling a little, Jamie turned to Steve hoping that they would continue their conversation and he could listen but Steve had folded his arms and was watching Jamie sadly. Jamie leaned into Tony, pulling at his shirt as if to hide in the material.

It was good sitting on Tony's lap, the same feeling he had when Adam was there and allowed Jamie to lean into him. And Adam hadn't called him over today, he'd left Jamie alone.

But Tony hadn't.

Watching him hopefully, eyes wide, Jamie leaned in ever closer, snuggling his nose under Tony's chin and feeling the slight scratch from the facial hair there and curled his hands around Tony's neck, gripping his t-shirt collar and his hair. Tony froze for a second and then wrapped his arms around Jamie fully.

"I don't like him," Jamie whispered into Tony's ear.

"Don't blame you," Tony replied. "You won't see him again. Promise."

"Tony-"

But Tony somehow made Steve stop talking without saying anything which was kind of amazing. Instead he stood, keeping Jamie against his chest. "Shall we get you in your pyjamas?"

"No," Jamie said, pulling on Tony's hair as a warning of what might happen should Tony try to detach him.

"My fault," Tony said as he walked them towards Jamie's room. "I phrased that as a question. We are getting your pyjamas on."

Oh. "But I don't want to let go," Jamie huffed as he leaned his chin on Tony's shoulder watching Steve as they walked away. Steve winced at his words and he felt Tony halt his pace. His hand cupped Jamie's head as he whirled around.

"Happy?" Tony almost seemed to snarl. "The kid thinks he has to hold on to me in case…" he floundered and then shifted his shoulder so that Jamie had to look at him. "Why do you have to hold onto me?"

Jamie stared at him, unsure. There seemed to be a lot of obvious reasons in his head and the last thing he wanted to do was tell Tony what those were. What if he agreed?

Ducking his head, Jamie reached out for the collar of Tony's t-shirt and turned his attention to the stitching there. There was a really long silence as Jamie felt their eyes stay on him and in the end, to avoid the heavy weight of their gazes, he shrugged.

Then he felt himself being lowered to the floor and he panicked, grabbing a fist full of Tony's shirt and trying to wind his limbs around Tony's chest.

"Tony," Steve sighed. "Maybe we shouldn't push this."

"Seriously?"

"At least not tonight."

Steve's words seemed to work. After a pause, Tony stood up straight and returned them to the sofa, putting on something on the screen. Jamie hadn't got a clue what it was, instead he tucked his head underneath Tony's chin and stared at the arm of the chair trying to forget that the mean man who hated him but loved Adam had the exact same eyes as both of them.

 

"He did what?" Clint yelled.

Jamie stirred a little but a deep breath in confirmed that Tony was still holding him tightly because everything smelled of Tony and safe things and machines.

"Shush," Tony muttered, shifting Jamie a little. "Tiny people wake up easily."

"He's his son."

Sun? No-one was the sun. Usually the adults were cleverer than that.

"He didn't have anything to do with the process-" Steve said quietly.

"Oh, who gives a fuck," Clint hissed. "We had nothing to do with the process and we…" he trailed off and there was a sharp bang as if he'd hit the wall.

"He wants Adam," Bruce's voice came from behind them, he was probably sitting on the stool by the counter. "That's gonna cause more problems."

There was a pause.

"Wow, Captain America's not jumping in with some power of love statement," Tony sneered.

"Tony," Bruce said softly. "Don't-"

"He isn't good for them," Steve said hoarsely as if the words were making him cough. "But…Bucky…" he sighed. "I'm not sure if we can undo what's been done."

"Adam wants to see more of him," Bruce said. "If we keep them apart then he'll hate us."

"Tough," Clint said frankly.

"And Bucky wants to see Adam," Steve added.

"Oh? Bucky wants to see him? Well, in that case then-"

"I meant that Bucky is currently choosing to remain downstairs," Steve said sounding like he was getting a little bit annoyed by their conversation. "If he feels Adam's being kept from him…there's no way that would have that situation end well."

Tony cussed and leaned his head back and Jamie froze, trying to work out if he should move his head or stay still. From no-where, Clint's arms scooped under his arm pits and lifted Jamie into the air. Still a little sleepy, Jamie reached out for Clint and settled in close with ease.

"Sneak," Clint murmured to him. "You're meant to be asleep."

"A little spy in the making," a woman's voice said with some amusement. Turning, Jamie peered over as Natasha stood by the doorway and then turned his head back to Clint.

"You're talking about interesting things," Jamie complained, yawning.

"Great," Steve muttered, sitting back. "I told you to put him to bed when he fell asleep," he added to Tony.

"See this," Tony said, sitting forward. "This whole problem happened because you had a grand plan. I'm thinking it's gonna be a while before I listen to you."

Steve and Tony never seemed to agree on anything. Thinking about it, Jamie poked his finger into Clint's cheek and was given an unimpressed glare.

"I'm not mad at you anymore," he told Clint. "Even if you shouldn't steal Adam's knives."

There was a hint at a smile as Clint watched him.

"And no-one can be the sun," Jamie added, figuring he may as well correct Clint now. "And the sun doesn't belong to anyone….I don't think," he added, slightly unsure about that. Tony owned a lot of strange things so maybe someone did own the sun.

The silence this time wasn't uncomfortable or angry. The adults all looked…shocked. Just shocked. Well…Tony, Clint and Bruce looked a little less shocked.

"We still need to have the father conversation," Bruce murmured.

"That's hardly a good idea-" Steve begun.

"They didn't know what 'brother' or 'friend' means," Tony snapped as he stood. "You think anyone bothered with 'father' and 'son'? I'm still waiting for the fucking 'm' word to come up."

"I know what the sun is," Jamie huffed, kicking his feet a little. Clint didn't say anything but shifted him and walked them to Jamie's room.

"Don't wanna be in here on my own," Jamie complained as Clint put him down on the bed. "Can't I stay with you?"

"You listen to me," Clint said, kneeling before Jamie. "You know how people have different definitions of words?"

"Yeah." Sort of.

"Okay," Clint seemed to be considering something really hard which probably meant it was important. "I think a father, a dad, is someone who listens to you. Who cares if you're feeling safe or happy and who makes it better when life's shit."

Hm. Jamie tilted his head as he considered that. It made more sense because everyone seemed to think that fathers were a good thing but all the definitions kept fitting the test men. This one…

Wait. "Can I have more than one?"

Clint tilted his head. "You and I both know, kid, that there's one person who fits that more than the rest of us. I'll take awesome uncle. They're way cooler. They teach you tricks and ways to get friends and sometimes they can be more concerned with the happiness bit than the safety thing."

Jamie nodded solemnly. "Like taking away the knives."

"I think more people would consider the fact I gave Adam the knife in the first place to be the irresponsible thing but your call." Clint pulled the covers down around Jamie, lifting him with one arm slightly so that he could wriggle the material underneath. Then he tipped Jamie sideways, making him shriek at the sensation as his head landed on the pillow.

Jamie snuggled down into the pillow, smiling when Clint sat properly on the side of the bed and seemed in no rush to leave. "Where's Adam?"

"He's with Sam," Clint said slowly. "Downstairs."

"With the mean man?"

Clint nodded.

Jamie tucked his hand under his cheek and sighed loudly. "He liked Adam better than me," he complained. "Everyone does."

"You reckon?" Clint asked.

Jamie nodded.

"Do you know what I think?" Clint asked leaning close. "I think that you're someone's favourite. But that's okay then, isn't it? Adam can be Bucky's favourite if you're someone's."

"Who?" Jamie asked, shifting forwards.

"Who would you call Dad?"

Dad…that was a shorter word for father and…Jamie shook his head. "Tony likes Adam more. They talk a lot."

But Clint shook his head. Once. "You, kiddo, are one hundred percent Tony Stark's kid. Blood doesn't matter when it comes to this stuff."

"But what about Adam?"

"Adam….he's a bit older so he has a bit more of a choice to make. That's gonna be hard for him."

"Will he still be my brother?"

"Yeah," Clint said, as if it were a stupid question.

"Even if I get sent back?"

Clint stared at him then slowly his hand started to card through Jamie's hair. "Because you're not special like Adam?"

That hurt. Jamie flinched back, biting down on his lip and tried to sink into the pillows, half hoping that the bed would allow him to hide within it.

"That's…I…is that what they said? The…the test men?" Clint asked.

Jamie nodded slowly.

"You are," Clint promised. "You always will be. Our special and brave smallest team member."

Hmm. Slowly, Jamie sat up and studied Clint carefully. "I'm part of the team?" he asked, liking the sound of that.

"Hell yeah," Clint said. "You…believe me, kid. We're all gonna be much more careful now that you two are around. You guys might be the safest thing that's ever happened to us."

He made them careful? Well that sounded boring.

"But," Jamie edged forward to him. "That's not…I want something that's mine. So I don't get sent back."

Clint gave him an odd look but sighed and lifted Jamie, placing him so that he was lying down on the bed again. This time he didn't say anything but stroked Jamie's hair until it was such a soothing and constant sensation that Jamie forgot he was trying to get answers and fell sound asleep.

 

Adam kept going down to the mean man with Sam and sometimes with Steve or Natasha.

No-one ever asked Jamie to go down there again and he never volunteered.

 

It took a week before someone gave him a task. One morning, when he woke up from the light coming in between the curtains, he scowled at Tony who sat on his bed with a document balanced in his hands.

"Here," Tony said. "You should take a look at this. Shall we read it together?"

Curious, Jamie crawled out from his bed covers and sprawled himself on Tony's lap, earning a muttered complaint from the man. It didn't sound too serious though as Tony cuddled him close and rested his cheek on Jamie's hair. "Do you know what this word means?"

It was a long word beginning with 'a' and Jamie shook his head.

"This," Tony said sounding a bit strange, "this means that…that you're now a member of my family. Jamie Stark, what do you reckon? That has a good ring to it."

"It's like your name," Jamie murmured, pleased as he stared at the document.

Tony nodded. "I…It mean's you're my son now. Well…officially. If you…if you want to be. And that…that means I take care of you."

That sounded familiar. "Does it mean you're my…" Jamie hummed. "Clint called it a Dad. He said he was like an Uncle and that was why he could give us knives and take them away but that you were like a Dad."

Tony blinked at him.

Three times.

Then nodded.

"Okay."

There was a silence and then Tony snorted. "Well, that was anticlimactic," he sighed. "And you're fine with that, right?"

"Clint said Adam could still be my brother."

"Yeah…" Tony's face screwed up a bit. "Well…you each have your own Dad so now you don't have to share." He looked back down at the paper and his thumb rubbed over a signature that had big 'B's in it. Strangely, he didn't look happy.

Then he shook himself. "See this?" he said, folding it up. "This is the most important piece of paper that I have. And what I need you to do," he said, picking up a chain and placing the paper into a glass square that suddenly made it flatten. "Is keep it safe." He closed up the square and pushed with his hands, the square flattening to an oblong disk with a hole for the chain to pass through.

Then he put it around Jamie's neck and did up the clasp.

Picking the glass up, Jamie studied it and then grinned in delight. "I get to be part of the team now," he told Tony, scrambling to his feet and jumping off the bed.

He just saw Tony nod as he went dashing off to find Clint. Half way down the hall, Jamie paused and looked down at what Tony had given him.

Then crept back to his room.

Tony was still sat on the bed and the look of puzzlement on his face didn't really suit him.

Jamie opened his mouth and then hesitated, considering his options.

"Dad?"

Tony's head shot up. "Yeah?" he asked hoarsely.

"Just checking," Jamie said with a grin and ran off to find Clint. Dimly behind him, he could hear Tony laughing and it made his grin stretch wider.


End file.
